To Give the Gift of Life
by Diabolical Kitsutora
Summary: Crack Chapter now up! :Chrno hates taking Rosette's time. Rosette doesn't regret a thing. What will happen when opportunity calls to allow Rosette her time back? Will she and Chrno be torn apart? Or will a new destiny bring them closer?
1. Thoughts and Fights

_Diabolical Kitsutora Here! You can also call me D.K.Chan or SeriiChan! _

_DK: Wow, my first Chrno Crusade fanfic, exciting, exciting!_

_Chrno: So how does this story start out?"_

_DK: Why do you wanna know?_

_Rosette: We don't wanna confuse our readers do we?!_

_DK…_

_C…_

_DK: Was that Rosette just thinking logically? O.O_

_C… I… think so…. O.o _

_Sister Kate: Call the police! The militia! Rosette has said something that makes sense!_

_Ewan: Umm… Sister Kate, we are both police (in a way) and Militia, (well Rosette is)._

_R: Hey c'mon! I'm not that stupid!_

_Azmaria: Aren't you guys being a little too harsh on Rosette?_

_R: Thank you Azzy._

_A: bows you're welcome Rosette._

_a fight cloud appears around everyone_

_DK: sweat drops on with the story. By the way, it starts as Chrno's Point of View. bows and slides off stage_

_**To Give the Gift of Life**_

**Chapter One: Thoughts and Fights**

I suppose things can't forever stay the same. Surely there was a reason things had to change for the three of us. I guess things are just meant to continually change. My feelings for the two of them were destined to change. He'd be someone I'd always cherish, and I suppose it was inevitable… that I'd come to love her. Fate wouldn't allow us to stay together as our original group. Fate tore her brother from her grasp, and forced her into a contract with me. She doesn't regret it, she never regrets anything. I commend her for that, I wish I could say the same.

Needlessly, ceaselessly, she wastes her life so I can protect mine. Why can't I be strong enough without having to use my full strength? Why must I waste her life, to preserve it? There is a bottomless hopelessness in my heart, I know one day I'll be the cause of her death. Every time I must use my full strength, there's a pain that pulls at my heart, yelling at me to stop, to keep her safe and to preserve what little life she has. In my dreams I continually ask God why it has to be her that wastes her life.

It may not seem practical for one of devil offspring, someone born a devil, to pray to God, but to me, it makes sense. Maybe it's because I've spent too much time with humans, or maybe it's because I've fallen to where I feel human emotions. Whichever way you look at it, I do as most humans do. I pray to God to appeal to him, to give me a way to fix what I have done. To right the wrongs I have committed on this, this most tainted yet pure world. I try to believe that someday my prayers will be answered.

For the time being, while I wait for a sign that my prayers have been answered, I stay as far as I can from her. Yet I stay close enough so that I can protect her from other devils, from other sinners like myself. I've been called many things, Chrno the Sinner, the Hornless One, Killer of 100 Thousand. When humans see me, fear fills their hearts, when someone at the convent lay eyes on me, they pray that the Lord will spare them. When she looks at me, she smiles, she laughs, she frowns, she cries, she gets angry, she wants to teach me a lesson, give me a super noogie. A mere human shouldn't be able to have that much power over a devil right?

Well, that would be so if I hadn't lost my horns. For that reason, I'm stuck in the body of a 12 year old boy. Most times, I don't even feel like a 12 year old, but at the same time, I don't even feel like what I once was. When I'm in that form, I feel like I've been given another chance, a chance that I thought was reserved just for humans. I've been given a chance, to help Rosette to right a wrong in her life, and I believe that this child form is what will help me bring Joshua back. I don't know why I feel that way, perhaps it's just these human feelings causing me to think that way.

Then again, it's those same human feelings that have caused me to fall for that golden blond haired loud mouth. Maybe it's God sense of humor at work. Hah, put a devil in a situation where he falls in love with a human, is locked away, then falls in love with another human 50 years later. Could a devil truly love a human? Could a human, truly love a devil? I really can't say, I don't think Rosette sees me like that. She is of the church, she will take her vows and will no longer be able to marry. Rosette is a devoted member to the convent, she wouldn't break her vows so easily, even if she did love me.

She's worked so hard to get where she is now, and I don't plan to ruin that for her. I plan to do as much as I can to help her reach her goal. While I help her, I'll have to stifle my own feelings, something I'm not used to doing. As a devil, I never had to suppress my emotions because I didn't have any.

Now that I do, it's hard to keep these feelings from boiling up, though most of the people here at the convent wouldn't notice. Most believe devils can never gain feelings, but a few people like Azmaria, Satella, Ewan, the Elder and especially Rosette notice I'm not like other devils. Unfortunately, so does Sister Kate, and she makes sure I stay away from Rosette, meaning, I sleep in Elder's hut.

It's funny, I still remember some of our earlier missions. The bar owner, who turned out to be a Satanist, Rosette made the whole building come down. Then there was the stolen artifact that started attacking humans out of anger. The ship ended up crashing into the statue of liberty. However, my most horrible experience was that third assignment. Yet it, for some reason, is one of my fonder experiences. Not for the fact that the devil we had killed earlier knocked her out. For the fact that, even when I lost it, and I knew no reasoning, Rosette still trusted me. She ran at me, begged me not to change out of anger. Being in her arms felt… right.

At the moment, I'm staying far enough from the convent to where I can keep an eye on Rosette, yet far enough so I satisfy Sister Kate's need to keep me away from the building. Sighing deeply, I tried to once again bury my feelings for Rosette. We have another mission, another mission alone with her. I smile at the thought, but then frown, I have to control myself so I don't freak her out and lose her trust. Plus, she's a nun, a woman of God.

"Chrno, what the hell are you doing just sitting around? We got a mission to do!" The fiery blond haired nun stomped up towards the fence which protected the Convent.

Chrno looked behind himself directly at Rosette, and nearly fell off at the look she was giving him. "I was just um… uh…"

Her eye brow twitched, "you have no good excuse do you, Chrno?"

The small devil jumped off the fence and backed up a bit, "uh, that is to say I um…" It was too late, Rosette jumped the poor boy before he could get a word out.

"TAKE YOUR PUNISHMENT CHRNO, SUPER NOOGIE ATTACK!!!!" Rosette began her assault on his head.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!" tears streamed from the poor devils eyes, what kind of punishment was this?

"That should teach you a lesson." She humphed and stalked towards the car.

"What kind of punishment is a noogie attack?" Questioned the devil under his breath, seriously, how could something like that hurt him?

"You say something Chrno?" she asked, her brow twitching.

"Nothing Rosette! Coming!" sighing as he ran towards her, he saved himself from another 'punishment.'

As both the nun and the sinner ran to the car, a question popped into Chrno's mind, "what exactly is this mission about Rosette?"

She jumped into the drivers seat and gave him a cross look, "two devils were spotted in the middle of New York killing off innocent bystanders."

"I see, you have all your weapons Rosette?"

"Wouldn't leave without 'em!" she grinned, cocking the barrel of her gun.

Replacing the gun in the holster on her thigh, she revved up the car and shot off before Chrno could buckle himself in. "PLEASE DON'T LET ME DIE IN A CAR CRASH!!!!"

While in motion, the two bickered on and off. Rosette continually called him a baby for thinking he was going to die. He argued that she was a reckless driver. However, she brought up the fact that they never got seriously hurt, seriously hurt another, or got killed. Chrno couldn't argue and quieted at that. Once they had reached their destination and climbed out of the smoking vehicle, the site they saw made them gasp.

"Everything's… destroyed…" Rosette gasped. Her shock was short lived for she spotted two moving figures, quickly she pulled out her gun.

Whatever was moving stopped to look at the young blond wielding a gun. What looked like a female devil was carrying what looked like a wounded male devil. "Don't you two dare move! You've caused many deaths and you shall pay!"

The two looked surprised, as if they didn't know what she was talking about. Suddenly, the male shouted, "Karumen, keikai shitekudasai! (Carmen, watch out!)" Weakly, the male devil dragged her to the ground.

"Crimany, how many flipping devils are really here?!" groaned Rosette, as she spotted two more devils dive towards the male and female on the ground, dodging an energy attack, she brought her gun up, aiming at one of the airborne devils.

"I don't think the two on the ground did this Rosette!" Chrno yelled, trying to get Rosette under some cover.

"Nah, ya think?" she yelled sarcastically at him, lowering her weapon for a second, "I don't know what's going on, but we gotta help them!"

"Nah, ya think?" Chrno mocked.

Growling at the four foot tall sinner, she knelt on one knee and once again aimed at one of the devils. "I have a feeling this won't kill them Chrno!" Rosette yelled as she fired off a round of Sacreds.

"Rosette get down! Not even a Gospel could harm them!" The poor devil tried desperately to grab onto the girls arm and drag her behind the car, but she moved away.

"I have to try and get their attention Chrno, after I do that, I can release the seal." At this, crimson eyes widened.

"Save your time Rosette! We can find another way to do this!" his fiery crimson eyes were pleading.

The blond girl smiled at him, "it's for a good cause Chrno, besides I'll be fine." She flashed her famous grin and loaded a Gospel into her gun. If a sacred didn't get their attention, this would.

"I'm begging you Rosette, please don't release the seal." Inside, the poor boy was breaking, his heart was shattering.

Her only response was to grin and then aim at the swooping devils, "there's no other way Chrno."

"No, don't do it!" a voice cried from somewhere. Rosette finally found herself pinned to the ground.

"Rosette!" the blond could hear her partner calling for her.

"You mustn't use that against them, they could reflect it right back at you. Though you may not be a devil, it could easy kill you with its explosive charge." The voice was female.

"Who are you?" Rosette heard Chrno question.

"My name is Karumen." She coughed when they gave her a blank expression, "that's Carmen in English." Swiftly she picked up Rosette and dodged behind the car with Chrno and the wounded male devil.

"Karumen anatabaka mono… (Carmen you idiot…)" he muttered under his breath.

"Thanks for your concern." The female grunted sarcastically.

"Anatahasonoyouni kogai ni dete tobikon de ooki i kiken wotorimashita, anatahaanataga sorerawo sake runoni juubun hayai kotonioite un gayoidesu. (You took a big risk diving out in the open like that, you're lucky that you're fast enough to dodge them.)" The male looked concerned and irritated.

"Excuse me, who the hell are you two?" Rosette burst in angrily.

The female looked at the blond haired nun, "now's not the time, I'll distract them while you three get into the car."

Rosette's brows knitted together, "why can't we all just get in at once?"

This time the male spoke up, "Moshi wareware ga sore rano chuui wosorasanainara, wareware gamada itsutte iru mani, kare raha kuruma wo bakuha surudeshou. (if we don't distract them, they'll blow up the vehicle while we're still getting in.)" he painfully pulled himself up to a sitting position.

"When did you get there?" Chrno asked out of nowhere.

"Choudo ima korewo tanon deiruka? Ikanianatano tonari de watashi wo tadashiku kanji nakattaka?" (You're just now asking this? How did you not sense me right next to you?) the male asked, looking at Chrno as if he were stupid.

Chrno blinked and turned his head towards the male, "Umm… I didn't understand a word you said." Rosette looked dumbfounded.

"Umm, can you repeat what you just said? I couldn't understand you."

"None of that matters at the moment, you three get into the car, I'll distract those two heathens up there," she paused as one of the devils bombed a small building, "once they're distracted, you guys hurry up and get going, I'll follow once you guys are at a safe distance."

More explosions were heard, the male grabbed the females arm, "Watashi haanatanisono Karumen wosurukotowo yurusa naideshou. (I won't allow you to do that Carmen.)" Rosette and Chrno looked at the male in wonder, asking themselves, what in the Holy Lords name did he say?

Carmen noticed their looks and sighed, turning to them she explained rather quick, "he only speaks our native language when around others he doesn't trust."

"Trust?! We're the ones that should or shouldn't be trusting around here!" Rosette yelled, at the sound, something very near them blew up.

"Come out my sweet little girl, we've come to take your head along with that blasted male you have with you."

The male growled at this, yelling as loud as he could, "Kanojo haanatano yasashii chiisa i shoujo dehaarimase! (She isn't your sweet little girl!)"

"Possessive now, aren't we you now, you ugly traitor."

He growled again, Carmen flushed red, "go, now, I'll distract them, don't worry about me, I can hold them off, you three can't."

"Who says we can't?" protested the nun.

"My friend here has an injured horn and can't heal normally, Chrno doesn't have his horns, and if he is to use his full strength he'll drain your life, and you don't have a bullet that could harm them. So if you will, let me take care of these two while you three escape." Carmen shot up into the air, leaving the three to look on.

"Maa, wareware ha naniwo matte imasuka? Jidousha ni itsutte, soshite itte youninarimashou! (Well what are we waiting for? Let's get in the car and get going!)" growled the male.

"They can't understand you Vinsento!" chimed Carmen from the air.

Both Rosette and Chrno blinked, still not understanding a word, "um, I'll just take that as our cue to get in and drive."

Vinsento rolled his eyes as Rosette jumped into the car, Chrno helping the injured male into the backseat and entering himself. "Floor it Rosette!"

"Wasn't it you begging not to die in the car just a few moments ago? What changed, Chrno?" Rosette teased loudly, driving madly.

"Let it go Rosette, just drive!" Chrno begged.

"C'mon my driving isn't that bad!" she protested.

Chrno looked at Rosette, not knowing what to say. "Vinsento, open the door!"

"Karumen, keikai shitekudasai! (Carmen, watch out!)" Vinsento yelled once more.

"Kuso!" The three in the car could hear Carmen dodge.

"Rosette, down!" Chrno forced the girls head down towards the steering wheel just as the top of the car was slashed off.

"Issou chuuibukai Karumen deattekudasai! (Be more careful Carmen!)" Vinsento growled.

Carmen dropped down into the car, "Drive. Now. Fast. Please."

Rosette put the pedal to the metal so to speak, and sped out of the destroyed part of town. "They just destroyed half this car! Sister Kate's gonna kill me!"

"Moshi wareware ga ima kokokara dena inara, kanojo ha mottomo sukunaku wareware no mondai no koto deshou! (She'll be the least of our problems if we don't get out of here now!)"

"You have a point Vinsento, but it'd help if you'd stop speaking Japanese and start speaking some English, you know the language!" Carmen growled, settling herself at Vinsento's feet.

"Fine, but only because you asked and it's really bothering me that they keep looking at me like I'm insane." The male said in perfect English.

"So NOW he speaks English! What PERFECT timing!" Rosette growled.

Carmen sweat dropped, "you can call my friend here Vincent, that's Vinsento in English."

"I don't think now is the appropriate time to be introducing ourselves!" Chrno cried loudly.

"Short stack in fronts quite right Carmen, stop introducing me." Growled Vincent.

Both women's brown twitched, "just shut up." Both said at the same time.

All four were quiet with the exception of Vincent's soft moans of pain. Carmen had moved so that his head was now on her lap. She gently stroked his forehead, telling him he'd be ok. Chrno gazed at them through the car mirror. Sister Kate would have a fit. She had enough trouble accepting Chrno into the order, but two more devils? Who had their horns more or less.

Rosette was thinking something along the same lines. However, she couldn't turn a blind eye to them just because they were devils. For one, Carmen helped save theirs asses, and neither had done anything to harm them. Plus, Vincent was injured, Rosette could just tell, that both devils wouldn't harm anyone at the order.

"Vinsento," she could hear her coo lightly under her breath, "anatahaanatano hoshi no enerugi wo setsuyaku surutamenianatanoissou wakai keishiki ni kawa rubekidearu. (you should transform into your younger form to conserve your astral energy.)

Rosette raised a brow at this, she vaguely wondered what she had muttered to him. Once she saw his large form take that of a form similar to Chrno's younger form, she guessed what it might have been that she had said. The blond nun had to smile, his tiny form reminded her of Chrno's. She smiled fondly to herself, beginning to zone out.

"KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE ROAD ROSETTE!!!!" Chrno yelled, grabbing the steering wheel to steer themselves clear of another car.

"Sorry," she answered sheepishly as the other driver honked madly at them.

Chrno sighed, did she think a sorry could make up for it if there had been an accident? About to say something, he decided not to, seeing as how they had an injured person with them. He could feel Carmen silently thanking him for not starting an argument with the hot headed blond human. The car slowly passed small homes, vast expanses of grass and shrubbery, and small patches of forest as Rosette drove along.

They were a ways away from the Order. Chrno supposed it'd take them a while to get back. He busied himself with looking out in front of the car, making sure Rosette didn't run into any other drivers. Though in his heart, he knew that she was paying attention now. Vincent slept silently, his head on Carmen's lap. Carmen serenely looked out at the scenery, sighing silently every once in a while. Rosette was paying attention to the road, most definitely, but she also wondered what the deal was with these two devils.

Were they to be trusted, or did they have to watch their backs? What would Sister Kate say when she saw that she had brought two more devils to the Order? Surely she'd rip off the poor young nuns head. Then a nice long and loud lecture would surely ensue. Then again, if Chrno was allowed in, what makes these two such a big difference? Then again, she had known Chrno for a while before the two of them had been sent to the Order. Rosette sighed lightly, she'd deal with it once they were back.

For hours the drive was silent, until Chrno spoke up out of nowhere, "we should just stay at a hotel tonight. We can call Sister Kate and tell her we won't be able to make it back before night fall."

Rosette gave Chrno a quick side glance, "why Chrno? We're not that far from it now."

Chrno's eyes spotted a hotel, "we need to think some things through before we show up at the Order with two more devils Rosette. Sister Kate will not like this, and if we're not prepared, it could get real ugly."

Sighing once more Rosette parked on the street near a hotel, "maybe so, but do we have the money for four people? Besides, what's gonna stop people from freaking out?"

"I can easily transform into my human disguise Sister Rosette." Offered Carmen.

"Ok, well, where are we going to get the money to pay for all four of us?" Chrno looked at her, "What?"

"When are you the one that thinks sensibly?" he questioned.

A vein popped on Rosette's forehead, "DIE," the blond nun jumped at the poor devil and began attacking him with noogies. "That was so rude of you Chrno." She turned her back to him and humphed.

"It's ok Rosette, we have some money we can give to you to pay for all of us." Vincent said, crossing his arms and looking away, a small blush crossing his cheeks.

Carmen giggled and poked his cheeks, "aww, Vincent did something sweet for all of us, how cute."

His blush deepened and he swatted at her hands, "shut it woman."

A vein then popped on her forehead as she hit him upside the head, "don't call me woman." She said, glaring at him.

"Geez, c'mon! Don't I get some kind of protection? I'm injured here!" he complained, rubbing the huge knot on his head.

Sighing, Chrno looked towards the hotel, "well, it looks like we'll be able to stay the night." Rosette then grinned and nodded, being away from the Order would be good for her health.

Carmen nodded and transformed into a small child form, much like Vincent's and Chrno's. "By the way Carmen, how did you two get money? I wouldn't have thought devils have need of money."

Carmen smiled wildly at this, "well we can transform into a more adult looking form, without the devil like features. So we worked at a restaurant for a while."

"I wouldn't have thought devils needed to cook either." Stated Rosette, with a laugh.

"Yeah well, it was fun, and we taught the cooks there a lot of recipes with human organs in them!" laughed Vincent.

"Shut up you idiot!" Carmen yelled, hitting him, once again, upside the head.

"What the hell woman! Can't you be nice to someone who's hurt?" Vincent whined.

"Stop complaining you idiot, c'mon let's go!" Carmen grabbed Vincent by the collar of his shirt and dashed out of the car, leaving Rosette and Chrno to stare at the weird human looking devils running into the hotel.

Blinking rapidly, Chrno finally found his voice, "um… shall we go in?" he questioned.

"I guess so." Replied the blue eyed nun, as she unbuckled herself and opened her door to step out.

"You know, I wonder what people will say about the half destroyed car." Chrno said aloud, more to himself than anyone.

"Umm… we can deny it's our car, c'mon Chrno!" Rosette hurriedly grabbed Chrno's hand and dashed into the building, the poor little devil's face flushed a deep red.

"C'mon, Mr. Hotel-Man-Person let us have a room!" cried Carmen, jumping up and down so she could see the Receptionist.

"I-I'm sorry, but you must have an adult here that can rent out a room." The poor man sweat dropped, backing slightly away from the counter.

"Auntie, Auntie!!! You're an adult, you need to tell Mr. Hotel-Man-Person that we need a room for the night!" pouted the young looking Carmen.

"You whine so much, how the heck am I related to such a cry baby?" Vincent questioned, his arms crossed, leaning coolly against the counter.

Carmen forcefully pushed Vincent down, "stop being such a jerk!" she yelled, balling her tiny fists.

"Calm down you two!" Chrno finally intervened.

Rosette sighed, "I'll need a room for my Niece, Nephews and myself sir."

The Receptionist looked relieved that the caretaker of the small children was there, "yes of course." The young man gave Rosette the total it would cost, Vincent slipped her the money and she paid for the room for the night. The receptionist gave her the key and told her to take the first elevator to the third floor.

Once inside the elevator, all four sighed. No one thought it weird that someone as young as Rosette had three young "children" staying with her at a hotel room. Then again, it wasn't as if they acted scared. Chrno never would have thought it, but the two devils were pretty good actors. Both were smiling at Rosette and Chrno, they truly seemed just like two kids acting as if they have some kind of prank in store for the other two.

It was really hard to believe that the two in front of his eyes were really full grown devils. Rosette yawned loudly, she was beat. Nothing was more tiring then almost getting killed. After that thought, Rosette's stomach growled loudly. All three eyes bulged.

"Looks like we're getting some room service!" Rosette chimed, smiling loudly.

"How much do you have left Vincent?" Chrno asked, a huge sweat drop falling from the back of his head.

"Umm… do I want to know how much this will cost?" he asked, afraid of the answer.

Once again, Carmen hit him upside the head, "it doesn't matter how much it costs Vincent! You're a gentleman! You should pay for a ladies meal, no matter the cost! So get used to becoming broke within an hour of getting money!" she yelled at him, while strangling him. As this was happening, the elevator stopped to let them off on their floor.

Chrno looked at them, this was true, but at the Order, it was Sister Kate who paid the expenses. After Carmen was done strangling poor Vincent, the poor boy spoke again, "well in any case, I think I should have enough money to feed any woman's bottomless stomach." And with that he earned another huge knot on the head.

"Idiot," she coughed out.

Chrno and Rosette both sweat dropped at this. Walking casually to their room, C17, Rosette took the key and unlocked the door. For what it cost, it looked like the room was pretty spacious, well furnished and actually didn't reek. Chrno, Carmen and Vincent walked in ahead of Rosette, who stepped in and shut the door. Chrno jumped up and turned on a light switch. The room had a pale green carpet, a soft green looking couch, and king sized beds with dark blue and green covers.

Dark green shades hung from the windows, and the shades on the lights had a delicate roman look to them. Rosette saw the bathroom door and opened it. The bathroom sink was green, while the shower was blue, the toilet was also blue. The tile floor was green. The small kitchen had off white walls, pale yellow counters with light brown wooden counter tops. There was a black micro wave and a silver sink. There were a few drawers, and a few cabinets.

"This place looks pretty good for so cheap. I wonder why the cost is so low." Rosette said aloud.

"Who knows," stated Carmen, who had transformed into her adult form. "maybe there's some hidden flaw in these rooms."

"Well either way, we need to figure out what we're going to—" Rosette and Carmen cut Chrno off.

"Before we talk business we need food." Both said at the same time.

"Food does sound good." Agreed Vincent.

With Chrno reluctantly agreeing, Rosette shot to the phone and called for room service. Within a half hour, there was a whole feast of steaming hot food laid out on both beds. "Time for some real food! Finally!" Rosette exclaimed, starting to inhale her food, pounding on her chest often as she choked. These actions were repeated several times by Vincent and Carmen.

"Am I the only normal one here?" questioned poor Chrno.

"Course not, you're the weirdest one here Chrno!" Rosette laughed, biting into some chicken.

Sighing, he sipped the soup he had ordered. In truth, it was much better than what the Order served, but then again, the Order didn't have the money that a hotel probably had. Noisily the three ate, Chrno having finished way before the others. He sat quietly, waiting for the others to have their fill. What seemed like two hours later, they pushed their plates away and sighed happily, filled to the bursting point.

"Now that you've eaten, can we talk about what we're going to tell Sister Kate?" Chrno asked seriously.

"Telling her exactly why we're here might be a start." Suggested Carmen politely.

Rosette raised a brow, "why ARE you two here? You two need our help or something?"

"I think it's the other way around Rosette." Huffed Vincent.

Chrno and Rosette looked at them, confused, "um, what do we need help with?"

Carmen sighed, "All devils pretty much know that you have been contracted to Chrno Rosette. Therefore, many devils try to attack you in such a way that Chrno has to transform in order to defeat them."

"We're here to help you out in this situation." Voiced Vincent.

Both were listening, "you see, I'm not sure on how to explain this, because we weren't even sure if what we were seeing and hearing was true but well, here it goes. A couple months ago, we were visited on our travels by a peculiar human. He had blond hair and blue eyes, he looked like the kind of guy who smiled through most everything and seemed like he wasn't listening to a thing you said. Anyways, that's beside the point.

"This human came up to us, and asked us if he could camp with us that night. We thought it strange that a mere human could be so comfortable asking two devils to camp with them. Regardless, we shook our heads yes and that night we set up camp. Once we were eating the blond man began to talk to us. He told us that God was redeeming our darkened souls, that if we completed this one mission for him, we would be allowed to walk on Earth completely free.

"Interested, we listened to the man, and this is what he told us we had to do. We were to find the contractor Rosette and the contracted Chrno. From what he said, God wants us to give you two, our own astral energy."

Chrno jumped to his feet yelling, "what?! But that'd be the same as killing yourselves!"

"Calm down Chrno." Vincent said haughtily.

"Let me explain Chrno, the way we can help is truly special. I have my horns, and even though one of Vincent's horns in injured, he can still regenerate and use astral energy. This is how we help: both Vincent and I will transfer our bodies, minds and souls into the pocket watch. Once we're in there, Rosette, you'll most likely feel a little light headed. This is because you'll be regaining your lost time."

"How…." Rosette wondered aloud, her eyes wide.

"The soul of every living thing, no matter what it is, has a set amount of astral energy existing with it. You'll be feeling light headed because you'll be gaining the astral energy you've lost back. Chrno, after a time, you'll end up growing your horns back. This all happens because we'll be sending the two of you more astral energy than contracts really allow. However, by the time Chrno begins to grow his horns back, I'm afraid it will have some effects on you too Rosette." Carmen said, looking at the wide eyed blond girl.

"What kind of effects?" Chrno asked worriedly.

"Let's just say, she'll end up because somewhat… half devil." Vincent stated as softly as he could.

Chrno was shocked beyond belief, he didn't want Rosette to become a devil! She didn't need to know the pain of being a devil, to know the dirty looks. She didn't need to be an outcast because of what she was becoming. Rosette seemed a little frightened by the idea, but also very intrigued.

"What exactly do you mean by, half devil?" she questioned.

"Well, you'd most likely grow horns of your own, but they'd be small and most likely not noticeable, since you can never really go through the stages a really young devil would go through. Also since you'd be going from completely human to half devil, some markings may appear on your skin. Very easily you can make them disappear though. If you two decide to allow us to help, the first thing you should do once you start to feel changes is learn to conceal the half devil aspects of yourself, which I'm most certain Chrno would help you with.

"Since I'll be releasing a lot of astral energy in a stream, Vincent in a small, steady stream, the process will probably be a little weird. You'll feel huge jolts of life, then small jolts. Huge jolts of astral energy, small jolts of astral energy. One change right after the other, then small changes, because of this, your bodies will most likely end up drawing in astral energy on your own the same way. In high jolts, then in small jolts."

"What else about this aren't you telling us?" Chrno questioned harshly.

"Every once in a while, we'll have to leave the watch to regain our astral energy. We can give what we have to you yes, but we can not regain what we've lost while in there. When the time comes, if it comes, Vincent and I will instruct you in how to allow us into the watch, and how to let us out. This should not come to you as a burden Chrno, nor as a burden to you Rosette. This will give you what life you've lost back, plus years more. You may not understand why we're doing this, you may even think, it's some kind of trap, but it isn't." Carmen sat on her legs, giving both of them a pleading look.

"We realize you just want to keep Rosette safe, Chrno. In reality, this will be the best way to keep her safe. Every time you transform, you won't be feeding off her soul directly, you'll more be using our astral energy, and because astral energy will by flowing, cut off, flow, cut off, it'll eventually trigger your horns to grow back. When that happens, the contract will break. By that time, Rosette will have all time she's lost back plus who knows how many years more." Vincent kept constant eye contact with the two as he explained this.

Chrno looked down, Rosette could have her life back, but once the contract was broken… would he be forced to leave Rosette? "So…" he started, "you two will tell Rosette how to let you two enter the watch." The two nodded, "once in there you'll be helping Rosette regain what time she's lost." They looked at each other.

"One of us will be helping her regain her time while the watch is closed, we'll switch between each other. That's why both of you will feel high and low jolts of astral energy. That's why any changes will either be extremely subtle, or extremely noticeable. We'll try to make sure you two aren't around anyone when a huge change should occur." Carmen explained, keeping up eye contact.

"Ok, but then, when you're out of the watch, how long will it take you two to regain astral energy?" Rosette asked.

Carmen thought for a moment, pondering how to explain the absorption of astral energy. "Think of it in terms of pounds of astral energy. A devil with their horns can absorb, in metaphorical terms, 1000 pounds of astral energy in a very short time. However, someone like Vincent with an injured horn, could probably only absorb about half of that, if lucky."

"Quit making me sound weak!" Vincent complained, which earned him a hit on the head, "abusive woman…"

"Anyways, for most devils it will definitely vary, but, if we can somehow absorb more in a short time, we'll only need to be in the outside world for about a day and a half. However, we'll only be able to enter the watch three days after leaving it. So that'd give us another day and a half to gather even more astral energy, which should help you two out greatly." Carmen said while sitting on Vincent.

"So what will you two do when you're defenseless?" Rosette wondered aloud.

"We'll find somewhere to hide while we regain our astral. It's you two I'm more worried about. You shouldn't waste any astral energy we've given you, so it's you two that should more likely go into hiding." Stated Vincent, growling under a full grown Carmen.

Chrno looked from Rosette, to the two on the other bed, "how can we trust the information you're giving us is true?"

"The mans name that told us all about this is Ewan Remington." There was an ear shattering scream.

"WHAT!?!?!?!? FATHER REMINGTON TOLD YOU ALL OF THIS!??!!?!?!?!?" Rosette swayed on her feet and started to fall, Chrno caught her the best he could in his small state, and laid her down on the bed.

"Remington told you this?" Chrno questioned.

Carmen was now looking at Rosette, "yes…" she paused for a moment, "Chrno, you can't allow her to waste any time at all when we're not in the watch. She'll need every ounce of energy and every single second."

Chrno looked at her, his face a mixture of surprise, embarrassment and horror, realizing the hidden message in those words, "Rosette would not so easily go against her vows!" he half yelled, trying not to be too loud.

"Chrno, I'm pretty sure anyone who looks at you can tell how much you love her!" Carmen shouted as softly as she could.

"It doesn't matter how much I love her! She won't go against her vows! Even if she did love me the way I love her!"

"We can see that's not the case! She'll eventually choose you over her vows!" growled Vincent.

"No she won't! She takes her vows seriously, she's a nun! A sister, she's celibate for God's sake!" Chrno insisted.

Carmen looked at him sadly, "do you not want her to love you Chrno? Do you WANT her to stick to her vows?"

"I don't want her to get hurt because of me." Chrno was sitting on his legs, his small fists balling up, gripping the fabric of his shorts tightly.

"What makes you think you'll hurt her?" both devils asked him.

"I'm a devil, a full grown devil, it's hard for me to control myself around her in normal situations! If she were to actually be with me… I'm afraid what I might to do her. I couldn't live with myself if I hurt her!" Chrno gripped his violet locks hard, tears streamed down his face, "I couldn't live with myself if I hurt her and she couldn't trust me ever again!"

Carmen was now sitting on the edge of the second bed, Vincent sitting next to her, "you're thinking way too much into this Chrno, you won't do anything to hurt Rosette."

"How can you know? What do you even know about me?"

"We know enough, from our own observations and Remington's. You're a kind and sweet person, and you're loyal to Rosette. You won't do something you know that'd upset her. You should give yourself more credit than that Chrno. You may lose it when something bad happens to her, but you can bury your own feelings until she's ready to accept any destiny that she's to fulfill." Carmen grabbed Chrno's hands and pried them from his hair,

"You mustn't worry about what you might do to Rosette, Chrno. Sometimes it might be hard to control, but all you have to do is remind yourself she's not going to be used to being with or being a devil, she won't know our ways unless you explain them to her. Yes, she's going to be afraid of all of this in the beginning, but things will become better. Both you and Rosette will eventually be comfortable with the fate that's been thrust upon your shoulders. Things will work out in the end Chrno. That is how the Lord has predicted it." Carmen held Chrno's hands in his own, smiling warmly at him.

"How can others have such confidence in me? Don't they understand, I WILL end up hurting Rosette, I don't have any such control over myself anymore…" The violet haired devil let the tears flow down his cheeks.

"You were able to control yourself around your own kind because they just weren't something you were interesting in right Chrno?" he gave a weak nod. "it's the same thing with Rosette, you can control yourself because she's the one you desire to be with. Not for lust and breeding, but because you truly love her. Love and instinct are two different things Chrno, you would be wise to keep that in mind." Vincent scolded him.

Chrno looked at the male devil, seemingly taking in this information and processing it, however, it didn't make him feel any better. He knew himself, he knew that Rosette was becoming more irresistible to him. The poor violet haired devil wasn't sure what her becoming a half devil would do. Would it make him want her more, less, the same? Would he have any more control over himself? She'd be in a new state, she wouldn't know how to handle it. Would that force him to control himself? He had no clue, but he did know that he needed some air.

Taking his hand from Carmen's, he hopped off the bed, "I'm gonna go for a breather." He silently walked to the door, opened, closed and walked down the hall to the elevator.

Carmen and Vincent looked sadly in his direction, they couldn't say anymore to even try to make him feel better. Their attentions turned to Rosette, the opportunity presented itself anyways, they had specific things they needed to talk to JUST Rosette about. Carmen jumped next to her and started lightly poking her side until the young nun stirred. When she awoke, she complained about being disturbed while she was sleeping.

"But you were practically drowning in your own saliva!" Carmen exclaimed.

Rosette looked around the room quickly, scanning the room for something, and frowned when she didn't see what she wanted to see, "where'd Chrno go?"

"He went for a walk, he'll be back." Vincent answered her.

"There's some things we wanted to talk to just you about anyways Rosette." Carmen interrupted.

"Ok?"

"While we're in the watch, we'll be able to communicate with you, and you with us. So if there's ever anything you need help with, something you don't understand, or a change you're not comfortable with, we can walk you through it." Carmen said in a reassuring tone.

"Is that all you need to discuss with me?" she questioned, looking at the door.

"Well… Vincent you explain this one." The male sighed and began as Carmen asked.

"Rosette, most likely since the day you met Chrno he's been going through changes. Not that of the body, but changes of the mind, behavior, soul. He's gone from relying solely on his instincts, to another form of reliance. He now relies on human emotions." He began, he sighed when Rosette looked confused. "you know how it's said devils don't love right?" Rosette nodded, thinking that Chrno was not like that. "Well Chrno used to be like that, he had no emotions, and the things he did was to further his own powers, yet, he always rejected being with one of his own. The idea of being with another devil because of lust never appealed to him.

"However, he's one of the few who see the power in love. It's hard for him, because love is so much stronger than lust. It's even harder for him because it used to be his instinct to find a female because of lust, even though he never acted on that instinct." He paused again when he saw she was still confused. "Rosette, Chrno has a great love for you, I'm sure you know from experience he always does whatever he can to protect you." The young girl nodded. "he's at the stage in his life, where… well… umm…"

He sighed once more, this was going to freak her out. "this is the point in his life where he'd start looking for a mate, in devil terms, just someone to mate with to create strong infant devils, in human terms, to find someone he can love whole heartedly." Rosette gave a laugh.

"Why are you telling me this? I wouldn't be the one Chrno loves like that. I mean, he's my best friend, we'll always be friends, besides, I'm celibate, I'm not allowed to have children, I'm a nun." She laughed, she knew Chrno didn't feel that way towards her.

"Things change over time Rosette." That was all Carmen could say to the blond girl.

"Not for Chrno and me, we'll always be friends." She gave them a grin and a thumbs up.

Both devils sighed, there was no getting through with this girl. Carmen blinked for a second, she heard a crash from somewhere, then another one. She blinked again confused, before she knew it, Chrno slammed the door open, running like a mad man. "EVERYONE GET DOWN!!!!" he cried, jumping at Rosette, slamming her body against the bed as a devil noisily crashed through the windows right above where Rosette's head would have been.

Chrno growled, "how the hell did they find us so fast?" he asked.

Vincent growled, "they must have been tracking the scent of blood." Chrno gave him a quick look his eyes looking to Rosette, Vincent shook his head, it wasn't Rosette they had tracked. It was Carmen.

"Why didn't you tell us it was that time Carmen?" Vincent cried, diving out of the way of the devil.

"I didn't realize!" she cried, back flipping away as the devil took a swipe at her.

"You guys talk too much, it's time I killed you all." The devils eyes were a deep blood red, his claws seemed to be oozing some kind of poison. It was a tall devil, with bat like wings that were also a blood red color. This was something none of them had seen in a devil.

The devil also had wild short silver hair, his tail looked as if it was drenched in poison. Before anyone could do or say anything, he spoke again, "Ahh, you smell wonderful female, I shall enjoy you." He sniffed the air. "hm, it's close to your time human, I should take you with me."

"What makes you think I'll let you take me you bastard!" Rosette jumped to her feet, taking her gun out of her holster, and pointing the gun between the devils eyes. "I'd sooner die than be taken by you!"

"Ah, but what's the use of a dead pet? I much rather keep you alive, so I can enjoy your screams of pain." The devil laughed maliciously, his buddy crashed in through a wall, nearly lopping off Rosette's head had it not been for Chrno pulling her down onto the bed.

"You'll save me some of the human won't you brother?" the new devil also had wild silver hair, but his hair flowed down his back, giving him the look of a girl, in all other aspects, he looked exactly like his brother.

"I shall save you the human dear sister," that was a startle, "we can't waste any chance for you to regain your womanly figure now can we," he stepped over to his sister and wrapped his arm around her waist and lifted her chin, she looked lovingly into his eyes.

Rosette about puked, this could not be real, "that is so disgusting!" she blurted out.

"Insolent human, you could never know the beauty of what we share!" his metallic tail shot out from behind him towards Rosette, before her eyes, all she could see was bright red blood.

"C-Chrno…" her eyes were wide with fear. "w-why?"

"Rosette… get out… of here." He panted, the tail was protruding through his stomach, his bloody hands holding onto the end of it so the devil could not retract it.

"Useless weakling, let go of my tail!" he bellowed, wildly moving his tail around, trying to through the little devil off.

Tears prickled in the back of Rosette's eyes, "Chrno… CHRNO!!!" she stood up and held her gun ready, aiming this time, extremely low.

"What do you plan on doing human? Shoot my head off?" There was a silence besides the bustling outside, until he heard Rosette shout out the word Gospel and an intense pain shot from his groin throughout his whole body, "you stupid little BITCH! WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME!?"

He dropped his sister and dropped to his knees, holding his groin painfully, his tail limp, Chrno struggling to stay on his feet. "I just neutered you," she ran to Chrno who was now about to collapse in front of the couch at the foot of the beds, she tried uselessly to get the tail out of his stomach.

Coming out of their shock, Vincent and Carmen ran over to the blond nun and helped wrench out the tail. Chrno gritted his teeth, coughing up puddles of blood. He looked paler than he ever had been before, Rosette was almost in tears.

"What have you fools done to my brother?!" cried the sister, "I'll kill you all for what you did!" the female charged at them, her claws were dripping with poison as she swiped at them.

Barely ducking out of the way, Rosette was doing what she could to keep calm, "what do we do?! We have to get out of here now!" Rosette held Chrno on his feet.

He coughed once more, Carmen was busy fending off the females attacks, "you three get out of here now!" she cried.

"I'll be fine Rosette, let's just get out of here." He tried vainly to smile for Rosette, but it didn't work very well.

Tears were beginning to overflow in her eyes, "r-right, let's get out of here, can you help me Vincent?"

"No you don't! You won't survive for what you did to my brother!" the female dived at Rosette, Carmen got there in time to stop her with some form of wrist guard. The two battled as the other three attempted to escape.

"No!" the male yelled, mostly in pain, some in anger, he couldn't stand up, or move much for that matter, every time he moved, an intense pain shot through his whole body. Instead he reached behind his back and drew out a long sword and threw it towards the door to stall them.

"Rosette, look out!" Carmen shouted.

Turning around, she saw the blade flying towards her, but it never made contact with her, "what are we waiting for?" gritted Vincent, "we need to get out of here!" his chest was bleeding badly, as were his hands. He used himself to stop the blade.

"Vinsento, daijoubu ka!?" Carmen screamed.

"Watashi haumakuaru, kanojo wo nage, iko u kousei! (I'm fine, just throw her off and let's go!)" bellowed at her, he pulled the blade from his chest and threw it to the floor.

Rosette had already loaded her gun with another gospel, "Watch out Carmen!" she waited for Carmen to get out of the way, and shot the gospel in the middle of the female's chest. She staggered backward and fell next to her brother.

"L-let's get out of here now!" nodding in agreement, Carmen scooped up Rosette in her arms. Rosette herself situated Chrno and Vincent as comfortably as she could into her arms. As fast as she could with all the added weight, Carmen took off, leaving behind the hotel and the half destroyed car, praying to God that she had the strength to get away.

_DK: Wow that was hard to write._

_R: Why?_

_DK: It took me forever to type! I'm so freaking lazy! _

_C: That could easily be solved if you actually TRIED to write more sooner._

_DK: I don't want sass from you! _

_ER: Yes Chrno, I suggest you don't anger her, she is quite tired._

_DK: Thank you Remington._

_ER: You're welcome._

_DK: STOP SUCKING UP TO ME!!! kills Remington_

_R: She killed the Father! horrified_

_C: brings him back to life somehow _

_ER: Wooo I'm all better now!_

_E: Hm, that was amazing Chrno! Maybe you should try using your powers to make Rosette's bust even more glorious… drools _

_SK: Control yourself Elder, Chrno will do no such thing to Sister Rosette._

_E: You're no fun Sister Kate…_

_DK: … Anyways, here's what happens next! Chrno, Rosette, Carmen and Vincent reach the Order and Sister Kate is none too happy of the state that they are in. Why does she not even take into consideration that there are two more devils in the Order?!_


	2. To Learn The Future

_D.K.Chan here and here's the next chapter, I want to thank _**_demon-boy-Chrno_**_ for his review! I'll be sure to update as fast as possible! _

_R: Wow you're already starting on the next chapter? Amazing! _

_C: Now, now Rosette, she actually has ideas for this chapter. _

_DK: You got that right! Although I forgot some of them. _

_SK: Great… _

_ER: Hey do I die in this fanfic? _

_DK: Why do you ask Remington? _

_ER: You seem to want to kill me… -looks scared- _

_SK: I won't allow anyone in MY order to be killed! _

_DK: I'm afraid you have no say in it Sister Kate, HOWEVER, no you don't die Remington. _

_C: Then who dies? –worried- _

_R: DON'T YOU EVEN THINK OF KILLING OFF CHRNO! _

_DK: … why would I kill you two off? I love you guys! –Glomps Rosette and Chrno- Anyways, it's going to be… well, you'll just have to find out. _

_SK: Ok, right, on with the chapter then Sister DK. _

_R: Whoa, whoa, whoa! When did she become a sister?! _

_C: -sweat drops- whatever, on with the chapter. –Pushes everyone off stage but Sister Kate- _

**_To Give the Gift of Life _**

**__**

**Chapter Two: To Learn the Future **

Sister Kate sat at her desk, her chin resting on her folded hands. Sister Rosette and Chrno had been gone too long, something wasn't right. She worried for the young Sister. Though she didn't show it, Rosette was like a daughter to her. The daughter Kate was supposed to have, but lost due to a miscarriage. That was partly the reason why she became a Sister at the Magdalene Order.

She thought of Remington, who was, at the moment, with the Elder. All she knew was that the Elder needed help with a new bullet. The old coot and his new inventions, though useful, became pretty dangerous when he had Rosette test them out. Kate thought longingly about Father Remington. Yes she was a Sister, and celibate at that, but it didn't damper her feelings for the man. There was really no explanation for it, but the man had an angelic grace to him.

There was a knock at her door, Sister Kate sighed. "Enter." Claire, Mary and Anna stepped into the room, blocking her sight from the door way.

"Um, Sister Kate," Mary began, "we have word that Rosette and Chrno are back. Someone said they saw Chrno flying with Rosette in his arms."

Kate jumped to her feet, alarmed, "is she alright?" she shook her head, of course she was. "Never mind, have them come here once they land. Dismissed." With that the three sisters left the room.

"She didn't seem too worried." Whispered Claire.

"Normally when Rosette comes back in Chrno's arms it means something bad happened." Anna stated looking behind her shoulder to make sure Sister Kate was not spying on them.

"Whatever the case is, I'm sure both of them are fi—" there were loud gun shots from outside. The three sisters ran towards a window and saw Militia personnel firing at what looked like Chrno and Rosette.

Anna opened the window and shouted at the oblivious fools, "stop you idiots! That's Chrno and Rosette!"

"Sister," one of the militia yelled, "there are two more with them, we think they hurt Chrno and Rosette!"

"_YOU IDIOTS_," Claire screamed, "IT _WON'T MATTER IF YOU KILL THEM ALONG WITH ROSETTE AND CHRNO!!!!!!_" She yelled at the top of her lungs, jumping out of the first story window. "_CEASE FIRE NOW YOU BLUNDERING MORONS!!!!!_"

Startled, the other militia members ceased fire and looked at the angry sister. Claire had never been more afraid for Rosette. She was like a true sister to her and she didn't want to see that sister pumped full of sacreds. The figure in the distance was huddled into a ball of what looked like wings.

"Why didn't you let me help?" Claire made out the voice to be Chrno's.

"We're all already injured Chrno, there's no need for you to take any more damage than you already have." Answered a female voice, so the militia was right, there was another devil with them, but she had protected Chrno and Rosette.

"What is with all the firing out here? I demand to know what you fools are thinking! You could have injured someone!" Sister Kate came storming out of the big oak doors of the Order, fuming at all the commotion.

"Uh, Abbess, we uh…" she hushed the man.

"There's no excuse for firing on Sister Rosette! All of you are dismissed, I'll see to your punishment later." She stomped over to the winged shield where she knew Chrno and Rosette would be. "You can stop shielding them now, the militia members have been sent back to their quarters, they'll be dealt with properly later."

"Nazeshitaka sorerano kyouki no soakuhin ha watashitachi woka kougeki suru?! (Why did those crazy bastards attack us?!)" Cried Vincent in his child like voice.

Sister Kate looked at the now visible devil holding a child Chrno, a flustered and cursing Rosette and another child like Chrno. "What did he say?" Kate's eyes were wide.

Carmen let Rosette, Chrno and Vincent onto the ground, upon the moment his feet hit the ground, Carmen hit Vincent upside the head, "baka! Stop speaking Japanese, they can't understand a word you're saying!"

"Would you PLEASE, stop hitting me upside the head then?" asked the boy, rubbing yet another knot on his head.

Breathing heavily Carmen rolled her eyes, "sorry about the commotion Abbess Kate, I tried to show them I wasn't doing anything wrong, I set Rosette down and they started firing at us." Her breathing was ragged, her wings were ripped from all the sacreds, and parts of her shoulders were pumped full of the little bastard bullets.

"I'm sorry for their incompetence, I don't even know why they were here." Kate sighed loudly, she was going to have to go to the head of the militia branch and see to it that she got an explanation. "What took you so long to get back Sister Rosette?"

Rosette gaped at Kate, she was being calm, but there were two more devils inside order grounds. Was this the real Sister Kate? Rosette began to examine the older woman, much to Kate's annoyance, "would you stop that and be serious Sister Rosette! What took you so long to get back here?"

This time Chrno spoke up, realizing Rosette was too busy trying to figure out what was wrong with Kate. Truth be told, he was curious too. "The two devils we were sent after were too strong for the sacreds and the gospel, unless in extremely close range, they have no effect. We were forced to take shelter at a hotel to regain our bearings when the two devils attacked us. Rosette shot them both with a gospel, but they'll be back."

"Can you tell me what they looked like, what their abilities might be?" As Kate talked, Carmen fell to her knees.

"They have… some kind of poison on their claws and weapons…" her breathing was still ragged, matter of fact, both the small male devil and Carmen looked to be breathing hard.

"What happened to you three?" she questioned her eyes wide with worry.

"Sister Rosette… never got hit… she'll be fine…" Vincent staggered to the left a little, holding his shoulder.

"Abbess Kate, Vincent was stabbed in the chest by a sword, we believe it was poisoned, Vincent's hands were also sliced." Carmen was now struggling to breathe.

"Carmen, what's wrong?" Vincent looked at her worriedly, something wasn't right, those bullets shouldn't have had THIS much effect on her.

"The female must have nicked me with her tail or her claws, the sacreds aren't helping matters." Sister Kate walked over to the female devil.

Taking out a pocket knife, Kate located the bullet holes and set to work painfully getting the bullets out, "sacreds weren't designed to release all the holy water at once, that's just something that the Elder couldn't get them to do, so instead, it releases the water slowly, like a poison." She informed them as she got the last bullet out of her left shoulder. "We'll need to take blood samples, which should give us a sample of this poison. We can use that to make an antidote for the three of you." As she spoke, Rosette supported Chrno, whose vision was blurry.

"We'll tell you… all we can…" even with Rosette supporting him, Chrno collapsed, unconscious and in danger.

"Chrno!" Rosette cried, kneeling to the ground, trying to support her friend. The wound in his stomach was horrifying.

"Sister Kate! We brought the medical team!" Anna yelled to the Abbess, "over here guys, you need to get these three!" Mary was running with the medical team, carrying what she could to help them out.

When the team was close enough to realize they were going to be helping two unknown devils, they became hesitant, "what are you waiting for? Get these three to the infirmary!" bellowed Kate angrily.

Rosette watched numbly as they took the three devils that saved her from serious harm and death. Why was she being so useless right now? Tears welled up in her ocean blue eyes. She was always the cause of someone getting hurt. Sister Kate kneeled next to Rosette, understanding that the poor girl felt responsible for the situation. However, while the blond was sobbing, Kate took her pocket knife and dug into the girls arm. She got hit by a sacred somehow. Luckily, Rosette didn't feel a thing, but she would need a bandage.

"Come Sister Rosette, let's get to the infirmary, we need to bandage your arm." Rosette looked at Kate with a surprised look, then turned her eyes to the indicated arm. There she saw the bullet hole, how had she not felt it?

-----In the Infirmary-----

"All three are unconscious at the moment, what the hell happened to Chrno? He has a freaking hole in his stomach!" The Elder nodded towards the Doctor, indeed what HAD happened to these young people?

"You five can go get some rest, I'll take the blood samples." Edward, also known as Elder said, washing his hands in a near by sink. "I take it you don't trust the other two devils here, so leave the rest to me, I'm pretty sure I can find an antidote for them."

The five of them nodded, they really didn't trust the other two. Something just didn't seem right to them, why would devils help Chrno the Sinner? As they left Kate and Rosette entered. "Ah, so you two finally made it here?" Kate nodded, Rosette stood shocked in the door way, the injuries they sustained were much worse than she had originally thought.

"Don't look so pale Sister Rosette!" laughed the Elder, "these three are strong, they're merely resting. I'll have an antidote whipped up in no time. But I'll need a sample of the poison for my new bullet." Again the old coot laughed.

"You shouldn't be thinking of new bullets when they're hurt so badly, Elder!" Rosette cried, angry at the Elder for being so thoughtless.

"Ah but Rosette, I'm working on the antidote first, once I'm sure they're all fixed up is when I shall begin my work on the new bullet." Edward looked at Kate who looked worriedly at the three on the clinic cots, "what is this Sister Kate? Do I sense that you care for these three devils? Is it so that you trust these three? The other small lad and the female, whom you have never known before now, you trust?" teased the old man.

"Just hurry up with the antidote Elder, we need to know what happened." Scolded Kate, instructing Rosette to sit on a cot next to Chrno's while bandaging her arm.

"I can tell you what I saw." She offered sheepishly, her eyes down cast. Sister Kate kept silent, a signal for Rosette to continue, "when we got to the area where the two devils were first sited, the whole entire place was destroyed, that's when we saw Carmen and Vincent, we thought it was them that had destroyed everything, but they were being chased by two silver haired devils, one had short hair, blood red eyes and wings. The female looks pretty much the same. I guess they're brother and sister," she shivered at the memory of the two together, "Vincent's horn got injured somehow, and he took shelter with me and Chrno, and was shouting in Japanese.

"I fired my rounds at them, and even used a gospel or two until I ran out of what I had on me. Nothing worked on them, so Carmen used herself as a distraction so we could get into the car and get away." The blond nun's hands clenched the fabric of her habit.

"Why didn't Chrno try to do anything to help." Questioned Sister Kate.

"He wanted me to save my time…" out of nowhere Rosette gasped, "the gospels! Carmen said they could deflect the bullets and aim them back at me. They must have some kind of shield! They must not have had their shields up when they attacked us at the hotel."

"Shield?" Kate whispered to herself, interested.

"Anyways, Vincent was spouting stuff in Japanese, we didn't have a clue what he was saying. Carmen told us to get into the car and drive off while she distracted the devils, so we did. But one of them slashed off the top half of the car, and after that I drove out of there as fast as I could." Rosette winced, she thought she'd get killed for destroying the car, but noticing no imminent danger coming to her, she continued.

"I guess Vincent and Carmen worked for a while so we had enough money to stay at a hotel to work out what we were going to do, but the devils found us. Vincent said something about them tracking Carmen's blood," Rosette thought on it a moment then realized what he said when he said, 'blood.' "The male tried to attack me with his tail, but stuck Chrno in the stomach. After that the female attacked, Carmen fended her off… then the male threw his sword at me, but Vincent let it pierce his chest, that's how his hands got sliced… after that Carmen flew us out of there." After Rosette was finished, Sister Kate closed her eyes in concentration.

"I see, thank you Rosette," Kate put the finishing touches on the bandage and turned to Edward. "How are they Elder?"

"It wasn't too hard to find an antidote, it looks like this was the poison stolen from the poison control lab two weeks ago." He answered, giving a shot to the three unconscious devils.

"You mean those two were the ones that broke into that place? Why would they do that?" Rosette questioned, looking at Edward.

"Who knows, but these three will be fine. Now that I have a sample of both the poison and some blood, I can create my new bullet." Edward smiled wildly, holding up the phials of poison and blood.

Rosette chucked a plastic bin at the old man, "how can you be so focused on that damned bullet?" her anger was rising.

He merely chuckled, "because Sister Rosette," he began, "this bullet I'm working on could kill Aion, and also purify Joshua's body of the evil Aion has been feeding him."

Rosette looked at him, wide eyed and shocked, "you mean we could really save Joshua from Aion?" this was too good to be true, but Rosette was hopeful.

"With the four components of this new bullet, you will be able to destroy Aion. With the three components of the second bullet, you'll be able to save Joshua. Be warned though Rosette, the second bullet will be strictly made for you to use on Joshua." He smiled when he interested gaze was on him.

"Well, what are the components?" she questioned.

"That is not to discuss now, those three will be waking up soon." Edward bid his good nights and told the two women to tell the three he said good night to them as well and left, gazing at the phials in his hands.

Rosette's eyes followed the Elder out the door, sighing, she turned her eyes back towards Chrno. Her fists were still balled up on her knees. So many things were going through her mind now. Could the Elder really make a bullet that could help her save her brother, AND help her and Chrno kill Aion? The blond nun's eyes began to tear up, first her brother was taken from her, and now her best friend was seriously hurt along with two others who saved her life. Unconsciously she moved to a seat next to Chrno's bed. She crossed her arms and laid them upon the bed, looking at Chrno's face. He looked peaceful while asleep, not as many emotions conflicting on his gentle face.

She watched his face for a while. As her thoughts ran with her she began to cry silently. So as to not alarm Sister Kate, she buried her face in her arms, and eventually fell asleep. While Rosette cried herself to sleep, Kate busied herself by changing the bandages on Carmen and Vincent. She thought it best to leave Chrno alone… for now. Carmen's wounds were minor, but the Sacreds along with the poison made it impossible for her to heal on her own. Vincent was worse than Carmen, but he'd be fine. Most of the poison on the sword went into his hands before it could enter his chest or lungs.

She looked over at Chrno, he had the worst wound. He's taken some pretty big blows before, but… not only was a hole created in his STOMACH, but also, he was poisoned. Kate began to idly wonder, since Chrno was poisoned, would the contract somehow move that poison to Rosette? This worried her, sure a devil could withstand the poison, but barely. Would Rosette fair better? Or would she fair worse than a devil could with that poison? She began to wonder if maybe she should keep the hot headed blond nun within Order walls to make sure the poison wasn't affecting her. Then again, what would stop her from sneaking off?

-----Few hours later-----

Sister Kate had left the infirmary to search for the Militia head to chew him out for sending the militia in without her consent.

Rosette was still asleep at Chrno's side, her face buried in her arms. Carmen and Vincent were still asleep when Chrno woke. Chrno looked up at the ceiling of the infirmary in a daze. He didn't remember how he'd gotten there. His eyes half open, he slowly sat up, wincing and clutching his stomach, until he felt something bump his side. Crimson eyes lazily drifted towards his left, which landed on a sleeping Rosette.

Once he realized who it was sleeping half on the cot he was on, his face flushed a deep pink hue. The poor devil made to move a little ways away from her, but found it hurt too much to move. A small moan of pain escaped from his lips, which caused the sleeping nun to wake. Desperately looking for a place to hide, or maybe an exit, Chrno leaned away from Rosette. In doing so, Rosette became aware he was awake. Out of reaction, Chrno leaned over too far and fell off the side of the bed onto his side, which caused him to yell loudly in pain.

"Chrno!" cried Rosette, rushing over the bed to his side, "you ok?"

She looked at him worriedly, afraid he might pass out from the pain. "ugghh…"

"Here, let me help you up," Rosette grabbed Chrno's arm, and helped him to his feet.

A faint blush crossed the little devils face, "thanks Rosette…" he then hopped back up onto the bed, the brief noise hadn't awoken the other invalids in the room. "I haven't had a hole in my stomach for a while…"

Rosette half chuckled and half sobbed, "don't act like it's nothing Chrno… you got seriously hurt…" her golden bangs covered her eyes, tears welling up in her shadowed eyes.

"Rosette… I'm jake, seriously." He sheepishly waved his hands in front of his face, "it's nothing really…"

"You got hurt because I couldn't do a thing!" the words exploded from her lips, and once she said them she fell to her knees, sobbing. "I couldn't protect my own brother, I can't protect my friends, and I can't even protect myself!"

Despite the pain he felt in his stomach, Chrno jumped to the floor and took Rosette's hands in his own, "that's not true Rosette. You protected Joshua, for as long as you could. There was no way you could have protected him from Aion. You're more than able to protect yourself, you do it pretty much everyday, otherwise you'd never have survived being around Sister Kate. You don't have to worry about me, I'll survive, and you know you can trust everyone else to be able to keep themselves well too." His smile was sweet and comforting, his eyes shining a warm smile.

"I just want to protect my friends Chrno. I just want my brother back… is that too much to ask?" tears spilled onto her hands.

The small devil embraced the sobbing nun, she's had to deal with too much in her life, and it wasn't fair. "You do protect us Rosette… everyday." He could feel the young woman sniffle against his chest.

A tint of pink crossed Rosette's cheeks, she averted her eyes out of embarrassment and somehow came across Chrno's wound, "you should be lying down Chrno."

With a silent sigh, the violet haired devil let Rosette go from his embrace, "fine, but you got to promise me you won't beat yourself up about this, ok?" he questioned, looking her firmly in the eyes.

Agreeing with a silent nod, she helped the crimson eyed devil onto the cot, "how the hell do you guys survive injuries like that?" she questioned, once Chrno was lying down.

He chuckled, "we devils are just made to withstand such injuries as that." Rosette frowned, it wasn't funny how lightly he took it.

"You were still seriously hurt Chrno, you shouldn't laugh about it." Her crimson eyed partner sighed once more, he seemed to be doing that a lot now.

"I know Rosette, it's just hard not to take it lightly. I've been through worse." His eyes were closed, but he could feel Rosette concentrating hard on him.

When he opened his eyes he saw Rosette, her brows furrowed, concentrating on his face suspiciously, "you're giving in too easily Chrno… what's the deal?" she questioned him.

A sweat drop formed on the back of his head, _'maybe the fact that giving in so easily makes it easier to control myself?' _"What are you talking about Rosette?" he gave a nervous chuckle.

Narrowing her eyes at him, she turned slightly to the right, "hm… never mind then." She smiled, "you should get some rest, it might help you regain your strength faster."

Her smile was so beautiful to the small devil, it devoured him, made him want to so badly touch his lips to hers. Not allowing his emotions to show themselves, he smiled sweetly at her, "you're right." He chuckled.

"Then it's settled, you go to sleep and I'll watch over you!" the fiery nun was on her feet, one balled fist on her hip, the other pointing in the air.

These actions caused Chrno to blush, which luckily, went unnoticed by the fired up nun, "ok then…" he paused for a moment, praying to God, once more, that he didn't do anything stupid while he was asleep, "good night Rosette." After she bid him good night, Chrno closed his eyes, and willed himself to sleep.

Sitting quietly as her devil partner fell asleep, deciding that just sitting there was boring, she began to examine her surroundings. White counter, silver sink, white cupboards, creepy tools and needles in cases, white drawers, speckled gray floors, white cots. More odd instruments used for medical things, bins where used needles and other things were discarded, a stack of pink plastic bins, a tanned devil with dark blue hair, chubby arms, smalls fangs slightly showing from under his top lip, he was wearing similar clothes to what Chrno wore.

Looking around more her eyes landed on the second devil. She was curled up on her side, her lavender tinted wings folded. Her hair was a slightly dark green color, her skin was tanned, but not as much as the two male devils. The blond nun was surprised that she had just noticed this about the two devils. So much had been going on she must have forgotten to actually really look at them. Perhaps their personalities were just too much like her's and Chrno's, she got thrown off and paid more attention to that. The fact was, she didn't know, and thinking about that gave her a headache.

Instead, she pondered on the two devils that nearly killed Chrno and the others. What were they after? How had they gotten to that poison? What exactly did they want with the poison? They were strong enough, they didn't need to slowly kill someone, or even weaken them with poison. They had shields that protected them from sacreds and gospels at long range.

Deeply, she sighed, she needed something to do to get her mind off of everything. She was feeling guilty enough about all that had happened, she didn't need to have the time to think about it even more. Closing her eyes, she lightly rubbed her temples. For some reason, her head throbbed.

"Master Rosette, allow me to help you." A female voice came out of nowhere beside her.

Rosette jumped and nearly fell out of her chair, she looked to Carmen's cot and then to her side, where she saw the dark green haired devil smiling a cat smile at her. In which case, Carmen's face was so close to her face, she really did fall out of her chair with a loud thump, "geeze Carmen, you scared the crap outta me!" the poor nun rubbed her soar behind.

"Forgive me Master Rosette, I did not mean to frighten you." She reached out a clawed hand to help the girl up.

With a small grunt of effort, Rosette stood and dusted herself off, "why do you keep calling me, 'Master Rosette?'" she questioned.

Bright lavender eyes blinked wildly at the blond nun, "what do you mean? I call you Master because that is what you are."

"How am I your Master? I just met you, plus, I don't want to be anyone's Master."

"Vincent and myself shall be giving our astral to you and Master Chrno, therefore, you two are our Master's." she stated, bowing.

Rubbing her temples rhythmically, she looked at Carmen with one open eye, "do us a favor, and don't call us Master. No being has the right to rule over another, in any situation."

"Isn't that how your contract works?" she questioned.

"Not at all!" she bellowed, "I work with Chrno and he works with me, neither of us control the other. That's not how we work!"

Carmen smiled warmly, "you truly are an Angel Miss Rosette."

"Please, just call me Rosette, and how am I an Angel?" Rosette was still looking at Carmen with one open eye.

The lavender eyed devil smiled, closing her eyes she moved behind the worn out nun and began to massage her temples, "you'll know what I mean soon enough, Rosette."

The devil smiled to herself, everyone realized it but Rosette herself. The reason Rosette was treated the way she was in her beginning years in the convent. Why Remington always went easy on her. Everyone knew why all this was, except Rosette. Sure, Carmen didn't know EXACTLY what went on, but she and Vincent got the gist of it from Remington. It was a wonder that Rosette didn't realize who she descended from, didn't realize what she was.

Sighing contently, Rosette relaxed her body, "I just don't get so many things Carmen. I hate being human sometimes, I'm never able to help where help is really needed."

"You're time to help will soon be near Rosette." Smiled the gentle devil, "when that time comes, you'll be able to help others till the day you die."

The words the she-devil spoke confused the nun. However, deciding that relaxing was better than a migraine, she nodded at her words, "whatever you say Carmen."

The two stood there for a few minutes, Rosette relaxing, Carmen smiling. Chrno may realize what Rosette is, but he didn't realize his fate. It was so cute she wanted to scream, but better judgment told her to keep her mouth shut. Vincent was slowly coming to at the other end of the room. Being connected as they were, it was easy for Carmen to tell this, yet she made no move to show that she noticed. Silently the small male devil made his way, soundlessly, towards Carmen and an unaware Rosette. When he was at the nun's feet, he grinned up at Carmen, who grinned also.

Rosette was now sitting in her chair, relaxing as Carmen continued to massage her temples. Vincent stepped to the tips of his toes, his face inches from Rosette's… "HIYA MASTER!" cried the little devil.

"WAAAAH!" Startled out of her calm state, Rosette fell over out of her chair and hit the floor with a thud.

Vincent fell over, laughing his ass off, while Carmen stood there, wanting to bust up laughing, but settled for a strained giggle. Rosette's hand was clasped over her heart, _'that little… he nearly gave me a heart attack…'_ thought the nun, breathing heavily. Amazingly, Chrno didn't wake through the noise and commotion, however… Sister Kate DID come in and see what they were up too. When she saw the display she backed out slowly and acted like nothing had happened. Not like she knew what happened anyways.

All too soon, Vincent's laughter quickly died. Rosette hit the little devil upside the head, her face red with anger, "you think it's funny to scare the shit outta me Vincent?"

Laughing nervously, Carmen hooked her arms under Rosette's arms and held her there, away from Vincent, "now, now Rosette, Vincent was just… playing around!"

"Yeah, just chill Miss Rosette!" defended the blue haired devil, putting his hands up in front of his face in defense.

"Don't 'Miss Rosette' me, you little twerp! I'll show you playing around!" Flames flared in her eyes as she struggled against the full grown devil that was restraining her.

"Please Rosette, calm down! Y—" Carmen was cut off by a small groan.

"Ugh… what's with all the noise?" The groan had come from Chrno, who was trying his best to sit up while rubbing his head, hoping to ease a headache.

Rosette didn't notice, she was still struggling against Carmen, "let me go! I gotta kill that runt for scaring me like that!"

Crimson eyes blinked rapidly, "uhh…" lost beyond belief, Chrno looked to the struggling blue eyed beauty.

"Oh c'mon, can't you take a joke? I didn't mean anything by it!" Vincent began to unconsciously move backwards, away from the pissed off nun.

"Come here and say that to my face!" Ordered Rosette, struggling even more.

Chrno sat in a dazed, blinking slowly, as if he was confused by the situation. It took a minute before Chrno realized the nun was pissed, "Rosette, what happened?"

Concern in the small devils voice caught Rosette's immediate attention. For a moment Rosette calmed down and looked at Chrno, but the flames soon flared, "this little twerp got it in his mind it'd be HILARIOUS to scare the crap outta me!" she glared at the nervously smirking devil.

"Honestly, it was just a joke!" deep purple eyes pleaded understanding.

"Rosette, you should calm down, we have more pressing matters than pummeling him for scaring you. We have to find out exactly what we're dealing with." Chrno jumped off the cot, which caused Rosette to gasp.

Sensing the young blond woman was thoroughly distracted, Carmen let down her arms. Noticing she was free, she kneeled at Chrno's side, "you shouldn't be moving Chrno! You're still really hurt!"

"Shouldn't you be saying that about me too? I got stabbed in the lung!" Complained Vincent, upon which Carmen quickly clapped her hand over his mouth and drug him to another part of the room.

Chrno offered her his infamous smile, the smile that said, he was pretending to be alright with everything and anything, but really, he was in a lot of pain, mentally and physically, "I'm fine Rosette, you worry too much."

Golden bangs covered ocean blue eyes, "don't I have reason to worry?"

Violent locks swayed gently as Chrno turned himself more towards Rosette, he could smell the salt in her tears starting to form, "don't worry, it'll be jake, Rosette. There's no need to worry about anything."

Her head immediately snapped up so she could look Chrno squarely in the eyes, "Don't worry even though I'm gonna cause you to get hurt again? Don't worry, even though those two devils are going to come after us while we're down? How can I not worry Chrno, I'm getting everyone hurt, I don't want to be the cause of pain here! I've caused myself too much pain already…"

Chrno bit the inside of his lip, what could he say to make her feel better, even if it was slightly so? Had he forbidden himself from revealing his feelings, just to let them go like this? No, he could reveal one thing, the one thing, a best friend, and something more would do for someone they cared for. Crimson eyes closed slowly in deep thought. He had to word this right, so as to not make any conflict. As he opened his eyes, he took a deep, slow and calming breath.

"Rosette…" he paused for a moment, trying to figure how to put what he wanted to say in even better words, "regardless of any situation, whether I protect you from getting hurt, or just protecting you because I feel I need to, I never regret it. Pain doesn't last forever, wounds heal, but if you got killed, because I didn't chance a few minor injuries… that physical wound would heal, but the pain of losing you wouldn't." he lightly grabbed her hands, holding them in his own, "there's no cure for death Rosette, if you died, there'd be no bringing you back."

Blue eyes averted themselves to the nearby sink, "but still… those devils are going to come back…"

"This Order has been dealing with devils long before we came here Rosette, they know how to handle themselves. I know you worry, and that's fine, but you shouldn't let your worry consume you." Deep crimson eyes smiled with understanding.

Tears fell in streams from Rosette's eyes, "Chrno, I just don't know what to do anymore!" she wrapped her arms tightly around the little devils neck, her tears falling quickly. As she sobbed into his shoulder, something in his words got her thinking.

'_Regardless of any situation, whether I protect you from getting hurt, or just protecting you because I feel I need to, I never regret it.' _

The simple sentence replayed itself in her mind, over and over until another thing he said struck her hard.

_'Pain doesn't last forever, wounds heal, but if you got killed, because I didn't chance a few minor injuries… that physical wound would heal, but the pain of losing you wouldn't.' _

The last part of that sentence repeated itself over and over.

A light bulb went off in Rosette's head. Chrno really cared about her, more than just a friend would care. Her first instinct was to panic and pull away, but she thought better of it.

Said violet haired devil had never done anything to harm her. Had never done anything to violate her, or to make her uncomfortable. Matter of fact, he was always there for her, always comforted her. Subtle things began to pelt her mind, as she thought back at all the instances where she should have noticed the signs. The way he was so protective of her, the way he blushed when she merely smiled at him. How he worried more for her than himself, and somehow ended up taking all the blows that should have landed on her.

More signs began to reveal themselves to her. The way _she_ acted when around Chrno, how _she_ always teased him. _She _got defensive when it came to him, _she'd _fight when Chrno was in trouble. The more she thought, the more it was clear to her. Chrno meant as must to her as she meant to Chrno. She half laughed and half sobbed, this couldn't be happening. She vaguely wanted to stay oblivious to the fact, but scolded herself for thinking that's how she wanted to be. Somehow, she knew that she had already known from the beginning.

'_I love Chrno, plain and simple.' _The answer seemed to come so easily to her, she truly loved Chrno. The fact scared her, yet it also comforted. However, she wasn't sure how that made her feel.

Quickly, the blond woman came out of her reverie, blinking, she looked at Chrno, "why are you shaking me?"

"R-Rosette… your… your back!" Chrno's eyes were wide with surprise.

However, ocean blue eyes couldn't read what the surprise was for, what did he mean? Of course she was back, she never left, "what are you talking about? Chrno, what's going—" a small chuckle interrupted her sentence.

"There's nothing going on, descendant of Mary Magdalena." Carmen kneeled next to Chrno and Rosette, a serene smile upon her face, "you have finally realized a truth that allowed you to tap into your dormant powers. Powers you got from your Grandmother, Mary Magdalena."

The two, Chrno's hands still holding tightly onto Rosette's arms, Rosette's arms still somewhat locked around his neck, stared at the dark green haired devil, "excuse me?"

"What do you mean? Mary never had a child!" Chrno blushed, he may have felt that way towards Mary at one point in his life, but he had never done any such thing to her!

"Not in her mortal being, no, she never had a child. But after she died, she was reincarnated into a young mother's womb. There, her powers grew. Her parents knew that she was a child of God, that they had been blessed with the reincarnation of an Apostle. However, she could not use the powers stored inside her. She, from a family of poor, yet kind farmers, married a very kind man, who gave her a beautiful daughter, and a handsome son. Both children were apostles, the boy's powers didn't lay dormant as his older sisters did. Prophecy tells that her powers would only reveal themselves when she came to the conclusion of one truth, and one truth only."

Carmen smiled at the two, their disbelieving faces amused her, Vincent sat next to Carmen, "care to share that truth with us, Miss Rosette?" he chuckled, even if he didn't get any reaction from her other than a vacant stare.

Rosette was in a state of shock, as was Chrno, but she still didn't get why Chrno had said she was back. "wha—?" before she could get more than that past her dry lips, Carmen pointed to a full body mirror that was sitting in the corner of the room.

Shakily, the blond headed nun stood on two shaky legs and walked over to the mirror. What she saw stunned her. Visible in the mirror, were two, pure white feathered wings, similar to the ones she had seen sprout from Azmaria's back. She quickly turned to Carmen.

"But how—?"

"You are Mary Magdalena's granddaughter, you have inherited her powers of the last Apostle, one that was never said to exist." Slowly, the dark green haired devil stood up and walked over to Rosette, placing her hand on her right shoulder. "I know it's a lot to take in, but you'll get over the shock soon. Chrno will help you out immensely."

With that, Vincent motioned for Carmen to follow him out of the room. Once they left, Rosette fell to her knees, and finally fell to sit on the floor, her wings disappearing. "I don't… Chrno… what happened to me?"

Bewildered and more than slightly confused, Chrno beckoned her to sit with him on the cot. Slowly, she got up, and walked over to him, numbly sitting on the cot next to him. "I can't say for sure, I'm not exactly sure what they were talking about when they said prophecy."

"Why did this have to happen? I don't understand it, Chrno!" Covering her face with her hands, Chrno held her close to his chest.

"Don't worry Rosette, you'll get through this." He held her close, something felt… different. He felt, taller.

"This is gonna change so many things Chrno! Nothing will ever be the same!" She sobbed willingly into his chest, was it her, or did he somehow grow?

Curiously, crimson eyes looked down at tanned hands, at once he gasped, "what the—! I'm in my adult form!"

Immediately, both of them shot back to look at the pocket watch, it wasn't moving any faster, it actually seemed like… "Chrno… it stopped, the pocket watch stopped!"

Attentively, Chrno ran his clawed fingers across the watches surface, "I wonder why it stopped. You're feeling ok, right Rosette?" he gave her a worried look.

"Other than being freaked out by the watch stopping and my having wings and all the other crap that's happened today… no, I'm fine." For once, Rosette was being quite serious.

Taking a deep breath, Chrno willed his body to return to it's smaller form. When he opened his eyes, however, he was still in his adult form. "I don't get it, I can't return to my child form."

A gentle giggle sounded from behind the two, whom automatically turned to see what it came from. What their eyes landed on, they would never have been prepared for. There, before their very eyes, was Mary Magdalena, gently hovering in the air in front of them. Her long golden hair was flowing gracefully down her back, her smooth pale skin seemed to glow, and the blue of her eyes seemed more intense with the paleness of her skin and the white of her dress.

"I can answer those questions for you, my beautiful granddaughter." Mary smiled warmly at the two, who only seemed to be able to gape at her.

"Mary?" Chrno was at a loss.

"Wha…"

"I know you both are confused, but I can only meet you and Chrno when he's in his true form, because that is the only form I had known him to be in when I was alive. Don't worry, while I'm here, none of your time will be wasted Rosette." She smiled at their bewildered stares.

"Why are you here?" Rosette finally found the words to ask.

"I'm here to help you through. Rosette, Carmen used the word Apostle, right?" The young blond woman nodded, "I think a better term would be… Earth created Angel." Both Chrno and Rosette blinked a few times, "my daughter, your mother, gave birth to you. You were given my powers, powers that have been building up for two generations at least. Those dormant powers were awakened by a truth, a truth that can combat all evil. With that truth, and Chrno by your side, along with some outside help from Carmen, Vincent and the Order, you will be able to rid the world of Pandemonium and Aion alike."

Tears formed in Rosette's eyes once more, "why me though? Haven't I gone through enough? I don't need anymore changes in my life!"

"There is no real change in your life Rosette, merely just the fact that you now know who you truly are." Mary silently landed on the ground, "yes, things will change, but for the better, I assure you my granddaughter."

"Mary… I'm still confused, what truth did she learn?"

Mary smiled at the panicked look on Rosette's face, "that is not for me to tell you Chrno. In due time, you will find out by Rosette."

"How are my powers going to help us beat our worst enemies? Besides being freaked out, I don't feel any different."

"I'm not the one that shall explain that to you. I'm sure Ewan and the Elder can explain that to you." She smiled at Rosette's gaping mouth.

"Um… how would they know?"

"How else should an Earth created Angel learn than to learn from another Earth created Angel?"

Chrno and Rosette's eyes bulged, "THE ELDER IS AN EARTH CREATED ANGEL!?!?!?"

"No, not the Elder, but he knows of them. Ewan is the Earth created Angel." She answered calmly.

"WHAT!!?!?" Rosette nearly fainted she was so light headed.

"How could we not be aware of that?" Chrno questioned, the impulse to wrap his arm around Rosette stronger now more than ever.

"You weren't supposed to be, not until the truth was discovered. One must realize that certain things, know no cultural, racial or mortal limitations. What's meant to be, will be, despite what rules may be laid down as law, or even logical sense."

Rosette's eyes swirled, "ok, you lost me."

"I agree, I'm kind of lost as to what you mean." Chrno looked Mary in the eyes, trying to decipher what they were revealing to him.

"You'll understand in time. For now, my time here is short, I was only allowed a small bit of time so I could introduce to you a few thoughts. Now that I have done so, I must go back and protect the souls that are on their way to heaven." She smiled, reading the thoughts in both Rosette's and Chrno's eyes, "the Lord our Father does not make his sons and daughters do his work, we chose to do so ourselves. Life after death can be… truly enlightening."

"Mary, before you go… will… I really be able to save my brother? Will things go back to normal?" Ocean blue eyes were set and determined for an answer.

Once again, a beautiful smile found it's way to Mary's lips, she took a few steps towards the two on the cot and grabbed Rosette's hands, "you are destined for so much more than you believe you are capable of. You'll most definitely save your brother Rosette." Rosette pondered her words and the soft feeling of her ghostly hands on her skin. She then grabbed Chrno's hands, "you'll be there for her every step of the way, as you have been thus far. You're so much more important than that though Chrno, you may derive from devil ancestry, but you truly have the heart of a true son of God. An Earth bound Angel."

She let go of the sinners hands, kissed Rosette on the forehead and stepped back. Both the devil and the nun were at a loss for words. A serene smile was on Mary's face, she had no regrets, it was apparent enough. With a small wave, she slowly began to fade, leaving Rosette and Chrno staring at an empty space. So engaged in the conversation, neither realized that Sister Kate, Carmen, Vincent, the Elder, Ewan, Anna, Claire, and Mary had all listening in on the conversation.

"And now it begins." Claire said under her breath, backing up from the door, and slowly walking down the hall.

Anna and Mary looked sadly at her, for happiness to be brought, pain must be endured. Life could be so cruel, yet, it'd all be worth it in the end… right?

----In Sister Kate's Office----

"Sister Kate, will you be ok?" Ewan looked worriedly at the sister, whose head was hidden in her arms.

Looking up, Kate sighed, "yeah, I'll be fine. I'm just not so sure the Order is ready for this. To tell the truth, I'm not sure Rosette and Chrno are ready for this yet." She gazed sideways out the window, "do you feel that everyone is ready for this?"

Smiling lightly, Ewan walked the few paces between the point on which he stood, to Kate's side. He gently unraveled her hands and held them, "Kate, Rosette wouldn't have figured out her truth unless she and everyone else were truly ready. Yes, I admit, it will take some adjusting, especially…"

"Please don't remind me about that detail Ewan… I can't think about it right now." A few tears slid down Kate's face.

"We can't ignore it forever." He coaxed Kate out of her chair and held her tightly to his chest.

Tears silently continued to fall, "I know, but I can't deal with it quite yet. Give me a little time to think Ewan, and I'll be ready, I swear I will."

Slightly pushing her from his embrace, he lifted her chin so her eyes met his, "no, you won't be ready. No one will. However, I know we'll get through it. Besides, no one could ever be _ready_ to lose someone, to lose a sister."

"All the girls here are my children Ewan, I'll never be ready to give any of them away, to death or to another."

-----Anna, Mary and Claire-----

Anna and Mary silently followed behind Claire. Knowing that the first part of the prophecy had come true really hit her hard. In truth, it had hit them all hard. They knew that, even in the end, things would turn out alright, but… everything inbetween… everything inbetween would be hard to get through. To lose a sister to death, to lose a sister to marriage, both are hard. Even though one wasn't as bad as the other, both still hurt equally. It especially hurt Claire, Rosette was like a blood sister to her.

"Claire," Mary weakly called out, "are you going to be ok?"

Claire stopped midstep, but she didn't glance back at her friends, "I'll be fine, I just don't see why…" her head turned slightly towards her friends, but then returned forward as she began walking once again.

Both sisters frowned heavily at each other. Why did something have to be lost in order to gain something else? Why did anyone here have to have a direct line of ancestry to the God's? On top of that, why did the God's want to reclaim that line of ancestry back to heaven? They walked a measured distance from their best friend, their sister. Things always got worse before they got better… right? There was hope for everyone in the Order.

----Carmen, Chrno, Rosette, Vincent----

"Do you think you realized it too soon Rosette?" Carmen asked her for the tenth time. "You don't seem ready to accept it." She gazed at the sister worriedly.

"No, there was a reason I realized it, right? I believe I was supposed to realize it at that moment. Really, I'm just not sure how I feel about it." She and Carmen were sitting side-by-side on the cot, while Chrno and Vincent were walking around outside.

"What do you mean?" Lavender eyes blinked in confusion.

"I guess I always knew how I felt, but to actually come to terms with it, and also realize he feels the same… I just don't know how to feel about it. Relieved, scared, happy, what?" for the umpteenth time, Rosette sighed.

Carmen giggled, "you know what, I kind of know what you mean." A blond brow cocked in interest, "that's how I felt when I realized the same thing between me and Vincent. I didn't know how I should feel. That happened years ago."

For a moment, the blond nun thought it over, "so… did you end up finding out how you felt about it?"

"Yes, I did." Carmen smiled and slid off the cot and started to walk towards the door.

"How did you feel then?" ocean blue eyes were determined for an answer.

Lavender eyes looked back and smiled at her, "I didn't feel just one thing Rosette. I felt many." She continued at Rosette's expectant gaze, "I was scared that it might not work out like I wished it would. Happy that I realized my greatest wish at the time came true. Apprehensive because I didn't know where it'd lead. Frustrated beyond belief because I knew he still didn't truly know how I felt. Not to mention more than a little pissed off."

"Uhh…" Rosette was lost.

"Well, everytime I tried to give him a sign, he'd just look at me like I was crazy, and back away. Pissed me off to no ends," she laughed at remembering the times.

Tapping her chin lightly in thought, she asked aloud, "does he know now how you feel?" as soon as she asked it, she knew she shouldn't have. Carmen's frown was proof enough of that.

Noticing that Rosette seemed panicked, she smiled, "Vincent's a very guarded person Rosette. He knows how I feel, I know how he feels, but… he'll never allow himself to physically show me that feeling if he feels it'll hurt me in the end. A lot of bad things have happened to him, he just wants to keep me safe, to save me from pain."

"It's impossible to save any one person from every pain." Rosette stated with a huff.

"I know, and deep down, he knows it too. However, he's trying his hardest to save me from any pain." She looked sadly out the window, "for now, I'll let him do what he feels he needs to do."

Rosette hugged her knees to her chest, "you truly love him, don't you?"

"Yes."

"I truly love Chrno."

"Of course, Chrno's a great guy, who wouldn't?"

"Then why do I feel so jealous of you and Vincent?"

A small giggled escaped from Carmen's throat, "perhaps because you don't see the protectiveness of what Chrno does." The confusion on the nuns face made her giggle again and continue, "Chrno is just like Vincent. If he senses that he could cause you pain, he does what he can to hid how he feels, and finds a way to make you happy."

"Well then, those two are idiots."

"Of course they are, they need to realize no matter what they do, we'll feel pain. That pain we feel is much greater when they try to deny how they feel, though. Once they realize coming to terms with how they feel, and that they _can't_ protect us from feeling pain, they'll fess up."

"How long has it been?"

"50 years give or take."

"…"

"What?"

"Would you say about… 54 years?"

"Yes, that sounds about right. Why do you ask?"

"That's when Chrno was locked in Mary Magdalena's tomb."

"Can you say, 'connected by mysterious coincidences'?"

"Nope, but I can say, 'fate.'"

"I suppose fate has never been kind to me or my race. Then again, I guess my race has deserved to be shunned by a good fate."

"No, I don't think your race deserves it. It's the individuals that make the race deserve it. Just like the fate handed out to criminals is handed out because they are that."

There was a light knock at the door, "come in." Rosette said hesitantly.

White hair with a purple tint peaked from behind the door, "um, Rosette?"

"Hey Azmaria, what's up?" Rosette asked, sitting back, trying to relax.

"You know your truth yes?" she questioned in her timid soft voice.

"Yes, why, is there something you need to know?"

"No, it's just… well… you're basically a reincarnation of Mary Magdalena, an Apostle. Possibly… I could show you how to use and control your powers." Her shy red-amber eyes looked kindly up into Rosette's ocean blue ones.

"Sure, that'd be awesome Az, anything to help us defeat Aion." Determination was laced in her voice.

"Have you seen Satella?"

"Nope," replied the nun, nonchalantly.

"She can help too you know, her gift for being a jewel witch, they have some similar traits. Plus she could teach you to fight with weapons." Rosette laughed.

"Listen to all this fight talk coming from you Az, what did you _take _this morning?" again, she laughed.

"I just don't want anything bad to happen, plus, it's better to be prepared, right?"

Carmen smiled warmly, "you got that right little lady."

"Ah, Miss Carmen, how are you feeling?" Azmaria smiled happily up at the green haired devil.

"Much better, I like this Order, it's everything and more that Father Remington said it'd be. Things really get taken care of here, don't they, Miss Azmaria?" Again, the devil smiled.

Azmaria giggled slightly, her hand lightly covering her lips, "please Miss Carmen, call me Azmaria, or Az for short."

Again Carmen smiled, "then you may call me Carmen." Both the young white haired nun and green haired devil smiled at each other.

"Ok, did you two just totally forget about me, or am I not being loud enough?" Sighing, Rosette straightened her hunched posture, "anyways, how do you too seem so chummy, chummy after only a few minutes?"

"Father Remington has told each of us much about the other." Explained the young apostle.

Rosette was silent for a moment, "huh… so… who else, besides you, knew about Carmen and Vincent?"

The younger, white haired nun was silent, "c'mon Az, you can tell me." The poor girl looked fearfully at Rosette, "I'm waiting for an answer, Az." The blond nun backed her up to a wall, "I'm waiting…" 

_DK: Alright everyone, we're done here for the night! _

_R: Night? This took you weeks to finish! –growls- _

_C: What DID take you so long to get this chapter done? _

_DK: Off my ass guys, I had an essay to write! _

_SK: There is no excuse for turning things in late Sister DK… _

_DK: … Um, Sister Kate, it's not due for another three days… sides, this chapter isn't DUE at any specific time. _

_Claire: If you don't want your readers to kill you… _

_DK: -sweat drops- uh, um… yeah, if they like my story, they won't kill me… right. –scared look- _

_ER: I'm not so sure, you threatened to kill me. –grins, light shines off his teeth- _

_DK: You know, for a Father, you are full of yourself. _

_Satella: Well hey, he's aloud to be vull of imself. _

_R: When did you get here? –growls- _

_S: I've been here for a vhile, Sister Rosette, watching you make a fool out of yourself. _

_R: What did you say to me!? _

_DK: Enough bickering you two, on with the next chapter already! _

_C: I guess I'll give you the overview… -clears throat- In the next chapter, we start out with a conversation between me and Vincent, silver haired devils attack the order and Satella shows up, only to know what's going on. _

_DK: How is it that you and Rosette seem to be out of the loop? _

_E: You're the one who wrote this Sister, you should know. _

_DK: Ah yes, it's because I'm evil that way. MUWAHAHAHA! -maniacal laughter- Anyways, see you next time! _


	3. Attack on the Order

_C: PLEASE DON'T KILL ME ROSETTE, I SWEAR I DIDN'T MEAN TOO!!!! –running for his life- _

_DK: Whoa, whoa, whoa, what the hell happened? _

_Aion: Well, I pushed Chrno, he fell over and, 'purposely' grabbed Rosette's… -gets hit in the face with a frying pan- _

_DK: MORE LIKE ACCIDENTALLY!!! ROSETTE, PLEASE LISTEN! IT WASN'T CHRNO'S FAULT! –runs after Rosette- _

_Anna, Mary, Claire: Anyway, this is the next chapter. _

_Aion: I could have told you that. –rolls eyes- _

_Claire: You are such a homo Aion, stop fantasizing about Chrno. _

_Aion: I am not! –hurt look- _

_C: I hope to God he's not thinking—OH GOD!!!! PLEASE SPARE ME ROSETTE!!! –cowers under a two ton boulder Rosette has lifted over him- _

_R: THIS'LL TEACH YOU TO BE A PERVERT!!! –throws the boulder at Aion, smashing him- I GOD FOR SAKEN HATE YOU AION! _

_C: So why were you chasing me?! –cries- _

_DK: Stop whining Chrno, at least you're alive. –sighs in relief- _

_C: You were worried too… -mumbles- _

_Mary: Can we please just get to the new chapter? _

_DK: Oh, one thing before that Sister Mary, -clears throat- I would like to say, to anyone who wishes to read, that life is extremely hectic right now, and… -gets pushed out of the way- WAAAAH!!! _

_R: Enough talking, onto the next chapter! Have fun people! _

**_To Give the Gift of Life _**

**__**

**Chapter Three: Attack on the Order **

"Get down!" Before Azmaria could answer Rosette's annoyed gaze, Carmen threw herself on top of the small apostle.

Sensing what Carmen had sensed, Chrno tackled Rosette to the ground. Thus saving her from getting her head sliced off yet again. Dust and debris filled the air, there was no way to see. Two evil voices drifted into the ears of those in the clinic. The hairs on the back of Chrno's neck began to rise. This wasn't good, the devils from before were back.

"You were right, my dear sister. This _is_ where the Saint is hiding." The violet haired devil could hear the silver haired male near him.

_'An Egyptian devil?' _Carmen and Vincent must have caught sight of him as well. He could see on their faces the confusion. He wore Egyptian garb, so if they were truly from Egypt, what were they doing here? Far as they knew, a devil never left its mainland home. Then again, why should they be surprised? Carmen and Vincent were from Japan, why not Egyptians too? 

A small but loud squeak was heard, "it's ok Az, it's just me," it was the golden blond nun. She had crawled over to Azmaria and wrapped her arm around the younger girl, "what do you want with Azmaria?!" roared the angered nun.

"Are you deaf, or just stupid? I said 'Saint.' Besides, what would we want with a weak apostle like her?" the brother chortled, "it's you we want, you'll be the key that allows us devils to kill all humans." He laughed a maniacal laugh.

Gritting her teeth, Rosette stood up, "do tell me then, what makes you think I'll go along with it? Huh, what makes you so sure you can even get to me?"

"Rosette no!" he had said it too late though, there was no going back once that malicious grin spread across the siblings faces.

"I'm sure you won't put up a fight, not if we threaten to kill those who are close to you." Again he laughed when he heard Rosette gulp.

Her teeth were gritted, for a moment she seemed to be at indecision, but then she grinned, "all the people I care about can take care of themselves. I don't have to worry about you getting to them."

Immediately, the brother's grin faded, his calm shattered into bitter anger, "you just signed their death warrants Saint, I hope you've said your last goodbyes."

Rosette reached towards her gun holster she had strapped to her thigh, "shit, Chrno, I don't have my gun!" she backed up.

Crimson eyes were alerted to a silverish object flying through the air, "Gah!" Chrno turned to his contractor, no, that wasn't her scream.

" Isis, what did you do to my sister you stupid little bitch?!" His true forms amber eyes shimmered crimson, all he saw was red.

Enraged, he charged at Carmen, who had thrown what Chrno had now identified as a syringe. Blindly he swiped at the green haired devil, cursing her being. In a panic, Vincent rammed into her side, getting her out of the way of the males claws. Both fell clumsily to the floor. There was a shatter, Isis had thrown the syringe on the floor.

"You guys get out of here! I'll hold them off while you find your weapons!" grabbing onto Vincent's wrist, she threw him at Rosette and roughly shoved the three out the door.

"You won't get away from us this time Saint, you're going with us!" Isis' long silver hair flew wildly behind her as she charged after the blond nun.

Meeting her half-way, Carmen drew a sword from a sheath on her back, "I don't think so ugly, we're going to dance first." Grinning, she shoved the silver haired devil back towards her brother.

"You'll regret having ever said that!" Now in a blind rage, Isis charged at the green haired devil, unsheathing her own blade.

Easily, Carmen danced out of Isis' line of fire. She gracefully twirled on her toes, out of the way of the poisoned blade. Knowing better than to stay still and be struck, she kept moving. The long metallic tail that protruded from the back of Carmen's head shot out, encircling itself around the brother's foot.

"You aren't going anywhere my dear friend, you're going to dance with me too." However cocky she felt, she knew she wouldn't last long. _'Hurry you guys…'_

"Zuberi!" Called the female to her brother.

"Pay attention you fool!" aiming a punch at her face, Isis barely avoided Carmen's fist, after which she barely avoided Carmen's blade, swiping across her midsection.

From there, both siblings began to work together. Had the two not been enemies, the lavender eyed devil might have liked to study the way they worked. Both were in-sync with the other. Moving exactly as the other did. Their moves reminded her of hand to hand combat. In the blink of an eye, both were charging forward, swords poised to kill. Biting her lip, Carmen drew her second sword. Quickly dodging as the two aimed their swords at her heart, she nearly missed death.

They faked the sword attack, both had a dagger in their hands, aiming for her lungs. Cursing under her breath, she had really underestimated her opponents this time. Again she dodged as Isis charged and slashed at her neck. Aiming her own attack at the female's wings, she fell to the floor and rolled. Constant motion would keep her alive she knew this to be a fact. Once she stood up on the other side of the siblings, she held both her swords by the tip of their hilts.

Slamming the ends together, she twisted both, locking them in place. Her twin blades were now a two sided spear. Expectantly, she twirled it delicately in her fingers. Crouching slightly, her left arm was slightly in front of her chest to balance her weight. Her right arm was at her side, her hand slowly twirling the newly formed spear. The rhythm of the twirl would keep her moving. Eyes closed momentarily, she took one slow breath. Listening to the beats of her enemies' hearts, she listened for their move.

They charged, straight forward, no, they jumped into the air, they were going for an aerial attack. Reopening her eyes, her strong legs shot her upwards, her wings springing into life. Spinning to rid herself of air resistance, her spear spun wildly. Zuberi charged at her first, his blade dripping poison. He slashed angrily at her shoulder. Before the blade could meet flesh, she was gone. Propelling himself forward from the force of his attack, he went into a nosedive then shot up to meet her blade. Sparks flew from the two blades as the sister joined in.

Isis aimed for her side, but Carmen quickly vanished from the spot. Both siblings looked high into the air. Carmen dove straight towards them, her spear still twirling madly. Securely she grabbed the spear, striking at the female first, aiming for her neck. After she dodged, she aimed for Zuberi's left arm. As her blade sunk into the air, both siblings aimed a powerful kick into her back. Carmen was sent hurling back into the clinic, but was back up on her feet quickly.

Again she shot into the air, zipping past the siblings. Higher and higher she flew, she flew upwards until she could feel air pressure pushing her back towards earth. With lightning speed, she shot towards the siblings, her spear spinning like a helicopter. However, the two were ready. They weaved in and out of each others way, blocking Carmen from a direct path to either opponent. Cursing under her breath, she swerved off her course. Recovering quickly, she pushed her weakened wings further, forcing them to move her faster.

An idea occurred, she scrunched her body up as much as she could. Placing her right arm behind her, she twirled her spear faster. The energy from the spinning helped her wings to propel her upwards. Gracefully she zoomed upwards, weaving into their pattern. Grinning, the spinning of her spear stopped, and she crashed the weapon forcefully in front of herself horizontally. It was enough to break their spiraled pattern, but not enough to do any damage.

Swerving out of the way, Zuberi made a u-turn and poised his long blade at Carmen's heart. Having lost the momentum her spear had given her, Carmen was unable to get out of the way fast enough. With a sickening rushing sound, Zuberi's blade pierced Carmen's right shoulder. Crying out in pain, her lightly tanned hand dropped her spear.

Grabbing her shoulder with her left hand, she gritted her teeth, glaring at her attackers. She wouldn't be able to last much longer.

"You're weaponless now bitch, there's no way you can stop us. We'll rip apart you and your little friends, limb by limb." Zuberi's voice was like lemon and salt in a deep gash.

Rage began to fill Carmen, listening to Zuberi threaten her friends, and her love, was out of the question. Her eyes went from lavender to crimson. Forgetting all about her spear, she urged her wings to propel her to her attackers. Ignoring the stabbing pain in her shoulder, she put as much force as she could into two punches. Aiming one at the male, with the force of a two ton block of steel, she jack hammered a hole into his stomach. Turning around, she jabbed a forceful punch into the shocked female's neck.

Both sped backwards, Isis clutching at her throat for air, Zuberi clutching at the hole in his abdomen. Clutching at her right shoulder once more, Carmen winced. She had little to no energy left. If she made it out alive, it'd be a miracle. Before she could even catch her breath, two silver haired devils rushed towards her. They were pissed, she didn't need someone to tell her that.

"Damn it, get your asses here now!" defenseless and with no energy, all Carmen could do was watch as the two poised their weapons at her.

Time seemed to slow, they were inches away. Two blades shot forward, gleaming in the moonlight. The blade on the right, aimed towards her heart, the other, towards her lung. What was worse, being stabbed in the lung, or the heart? Both would be painfully slow deaths, as long as they didn't remove the blades. Carmen could clearly see her death in the blades shiny and blood caked surfaces. There was a flash just above her head. Something happened, two blades sunk into her flesh. One pierced near her stomach, the other her arm.

Screaming out in pain, the lavender eyed devils wings gave out. Her body plummeted towards the earth, two blades biting at her body as they clumsily shifted in her flesh.

"Carmen!" A chorus of voices called her name, they became louder as she crashed towards Order grounds.

Again time slowed, she could feel the swords slipping from her flesh from the force of her fall. Her whole body felt numb, poisoned again, but would it really matter? As soon as she hit the ground, the force would kill her. Something softly glided under her body, pushing it slightly upwards. Whatever it was, it greatly decreased her momentum. It was almost like she was now sinking into a pillow of soft feathers or a cloud. There was no force from the contact of her body to the earth. Only the slightly rough feeling of a strong males arms catching her.

"Carmen," a soft voice called to her, "Carmen, can you hear me?" she knew the voice, she'd heard it a few times. "C'mon Carmen, you gotta show me you can hear me." He paused, "I think she might be unconscious."

Groaning in pain, she raised her lightly tanned hand towards her head. "It's about… freaking time you guys… got your asses here." Gasped the wounded devil, "next time… don't cut it… so freaking close."

Deep purple eyes nearly filled with tears. "Thank God, Carmen, you're ok."

"Does this… look 'ok'… to you?" growled the devil.

Vincent could have sobbed at the remark, "how did you guys… stunt my fall?"

Opening her eyes, she looked at the ten people around her, "it was Rosette and Azmaria." Claire answered.

Before she could push the formed question past her lips, Rosette sheepishly answered, "I don't really know, when we saw you falling, Az and I just kind of…"

"Bluntly put, the two created a ball of wind and as you fell, you hit that ball which basically resisted your fall." Chrno explained, from his position between Rosette and Azmaria.

Smiling, Carmen tilted her head, "thank you so very much," her look then became serious, "whatever happened that made them miss, isn't going to keep them away for long. Get ready for their attack."

Everyone nodded Sister Kate, Anna, Mary, Claire, Rosette, Azmaria and Father Remington all held up their guns. "Looks like this is a fight we'll have to win without you Chrno," the blond nun smiled at Chrno, "you stay put too Vincent, thank you, from the bottom of my heart Carmen, for holding them off."

As boisterously as she could, she laughed, "but of course, you guys are like family, I'm not gonna let these pile of shit hurt you." With her proud words, Carmen slowly slid into unconsciousness.

"Ok then, the rest is up to us, Father Remington, how did you say you think their repelling thing works?" Rosette was all business now, the two devils in the air were recovering from the flare Remington had shot into the air.

"It's not exactly a 'shield,' it's their astral energy, pouring from their bodies, that reflects the bullets. Since they're weakened somewhat, we should be able to hit them. However, we need to set up the barrier. That should weaken their astral enough for the bullets to do quite a bit of damage." All nine looked up into the sky, Isis and Zuberi were circling them from the sky above.

Seven of them began to ready their guns, three grabbed a cross and moved out, the Elder placed his hands upon Rosette and Azmaria's shoulders. "I have a special bullet for you two," he handed the silver plated bullets to the girls.

"They look exactly like sacreds." Pointed out the blue eyed nun.

"Yes, but they aren't. There's a mixture of holy water and the powder found in flare guns. The light from these bullets will blind them, and the holy water should neutralize whatever resistance left their astral makes." Both girls smiled at the old coot, he could be useful, sometimes.

"Thanks Elder, you ready Az?"

"Yes," answered the little pale lavender haired nun, enthusiastically.

Both aimed their guns carefully at the silver haired devils. The two devils laughed, their bullets had no effects on them. Confident the bullets couldn't touch them, the two heard Remington shout, '_now!'_ At that moment, Rosette and Azmaria fired their bullets. A split second before that, Chrno, Anna, Mary and Vincent slammed the crosses into the ground, their holy barrier flying up to surround the enemy devils.

Carmen, Vincent and Chrno groaned slightly in discomfort, but the rewarding screams of their enemies was worth it. The two bullets had hit their marks. There was little to no resistance in Isis and Zuberi's astral energy, and the flare powder blinded them. They scrambled helplessly in the sky. Everyone began shooting five rounds of sacreds, the sixth round being the gospel. Four hit Isis, three his Zuberi, they were considerably weakened, but definitely not dead.

Before Rosette could load another gospel, the barrier faded, and the devil siblings made a run for it. Quivering with joy, Azmaria dropped her gun. Her eyes were wide as she looked on into the sky. The expression on her face almost seemed frightened. However, a huge smile spread across her face. Almost as if she were a hyper child, she began jumping up and down.

"We did it Sister Rosette! We saved the Order!" All the Sisters laughed, Kate and Remington smiled, for now, yes the Order was saved, but for how long, was yet to be determined.

"You did a great job, all of you." The tone in Chrno's voice almost sounded jealous.

"Too bad you couldn't do a thing Chrno," teased Rosette, giving Chrno a light noogie.

"All that matters is that everyone's safe now, and everyone can concentrate on recovering." Anna spoke the truth, some were just shaken, but everyone needed to recover from the nights events.

-----Isis and Zuberi-----

"How could you let this happen, Isis, we had them!" Amber eyes shimmered crimson, Zuberi was not happy.

"I did everything I could, brother!" Protested his sister, the attempt was in vain.

In a rush of anger, he grabbed her throat tightly, he bared his long fangs at her, "Do you know what Aion will do to us for this failure?"

Failingly, Isis tried to speak, "he… won't… kill…" he strengthened his grip on her throat.

"He won't kill us, no, but he can damn near bring us close to it. I do not want to die Isis! I do not wish to go back into that tomb." Abruptly, he let go of her neck, dropping her to the ground. "We'll report to him, but any and all punishment is on your shoulders."

Her amber eyes gazed at her brother. What was it that they really had? Why did she love him so much? They were siblings were they not? She should not love him in any way but a sisterly way. As she came to this realization, Isis began to feel dizzy. It was like something was being lifted from her being. That was right she could make her own choices. Really, she had no reason to follow her brother, Aion maybe, but not her brother. Wait, really, she didn't want to follow Aion, why was that?

Zuberi wheeled on her when he saw her hair begin to turn a ruby color, her eyes a feral orange. Grabbing her throat tightly once more he glared at her, "is that defiance I smell on you Isis?" roaming her body with his nose, he took in her scent. "Don't be such a bad girl Isis, you know you're not allowed free will." Pushing her neck to the side, he held her body to his in a death hold.

Bearing his fangs over her shoulder, he dug into her flesh, until he found the main vain he was looking for. Venom began pouring into the young ruby haired devils body. Hot, white pain surged throughout her, she screamed in pain. Writhing in his arms, she tried to get away. The hair on her head that began to turn ruby, turned silver once more. Before she completely succumbed to his venom, she stored one thought. Zuberi was controlling her, abusing her, and she badly needed outside help to escape his clutches.

Feeling that his sister had fallen unconscious, he dropped her to the floor. Wiping his mouth, he scoffed. Each time he had to re-intoxicate her, the effects wore off faster. Growling, he punched the wall, the last thing he needed was for this to happen. In order to make his venom stronger against her, he'd need Aion's help. For that, he'd need to promise his services for an even longer time then previously decided. After being freed from his tomb, he didn't want to spend anymore time than necessary under Aion's control.

Induced sleep dazed amber eyes began to slowly flutter open. Beginning to wake up, Isis shook her head. How had she gotten on the floor? Why wasn't her lover concerned for her? There was no sign of him by her side until she groaned.

"How are you feeling, my lovely Isis." This was troubling, every time he had to re-intoxicate her, she came out of her small coma with a different set of memories of what they were.

When he had been a proud ruler in Egypt, so many centuries ago, they had been lovers. They weren't truly siblings, though it was commonly practiced. Being lovers with one's cousin, he was revolted by that idea. Vaguely, he wondered what her memory of them would be this time. Would they be siblings, friends, or cousins? What would they be in her mind? This frustrating thought made him long for his rule in Egypt.

Innocent amber eyes blinked in slight confusion, "Zuberi, my love, where am I?"

"We're back at the hideout on the beach, my love. Rest, you will need your strength soon." For once, he felt happy, his true Isis was back.

Lovingly, he kissed her lips tenderly, this was the woman his whole being wanted. Never did he wish for the sister, or the cousin, or the friend to appear again. However, he had to keep her under his control, at least until they were done with Aion. His beautiful ruby haired, feral orange eyed queen never agreed to help Aion. Remembering the day they were brought back to life, he remembered her saying she'd rather go back to the grave then help him. Zuberi wanted to live though, and not without his lover. So to make her agree, he did what he had just done a few moments ago. Forcefully made her submit using his venom, being an Egyptian rattler devil had its advantages.

Their kiss became inflamed, it was no longer tender and sweet. Her lips were crushed under his, his hands roamed her body. Really, he wished for his real lover to be replaced by this amber eyed, silver haired woman. She was his Isis, but at the same time, not his. He felt her every curve, nook and cranny. These were her curves, this was her skin, her hair, her breasts. It was all her, but the color wasn't right. Silently, he wished for the ruby of her hair, and the orange of her eyes. For some reason, wanting her made him remember when they were brought back to life.

There was no incantation, no spell, no nothing. It was absurd, merely being buried in a tomb kept their bodies from coming back to life. Those damned humans, they had found a way to seal them. Then they buried their bodies before they could revive. This angered him, but for now, half of his Isis was back with him, and who knew how long she'd stay. Deciding to take advantage of this, he wrapped his arms around her waist. For this moment, she _was_ his Isis, and he'd take joy in this fact.

-----At the Magdalene Order-----

"This really sucks," Rosette complained for the umpteenth time, "how the hell are we supposed to beat those God for saken devils?!" Anger was clearly evident in her eyes. (AU: No shit, right?)

Once again, Carmen was lying unconscious on the cot in the clinic. All in the clinic was quiet until Rosette's outburst. After that, it was silent once more. No one seemed to have anything to say, or any words of hope or comfort. Anna, Mary and Claire had long ago since gone to bed. Sister Kate and Father Remington were leaning against the wall near the clinic door. Chrno, Rosette, Vincent and Azmaria were all sitting in chairs next to Carmen's bed. The momentary heavy silence was soon broken.

"Vhere have all you been? I've looked everyvhere for you fools." the door flew open, hitting Remington in the face, which unfortunately, temporarily stunned him, in which that time he slid to the floor. Stepping through the door was an elegant red haired woman.

Five pairs of eyes stared at the long haired red head. The young woman's amethyst eyes were piercing, she was beautiful despite the scowl on her face upon gazing at Rosette. "Ah, I see the country bumpkin is here."

"_What did you call me?!!?_" Jumping up from her chair, she tried to charge at the woman, of course she was thwarted by Chrno holding her back.

"Ah, Satella," Azmaria called, "we've been expecting to see you."

Suddenly letting up on the force of her escape, Chrno and Rosette fell back in reaction. After standing up and getting the dust off herself, Rosette helped Chrno to his feet then questioned Az, "we were?"

"Yes, once you found out where you truly descended from…" began the small albino apostle.

"Wait, wait, wait, so everyone here knew about this whole thing happening, except for me and Chrno?" The blond raised her brow, expecting the answer.

"Yes," answered everyone in the room.

"So everyone knew that I was a descendant of Mary Magdalena _except_ for me and Chrno, right?" this time everyone just nodded.

"What you're saying then is, you knew someday I would be able to use my dormant powers." again, they nodded, "exactly how did you all know this before we had any clue?"

Unexpectedly it was Satella who answered, "look country bumpkin, we knew this was coming so we could help you through it." crossing her arms over her chest, she glared at the blond, "you can either accept our help and stop complaining, or keep complaining and have no help."

Growling, this angered the nun, "why would I want help from a witch like you?"

Sister Kate couldn't stay quiet any longer, "Sister Rosette!" her voice boomed in the small clinic, all the occupants stiffened and looked at the head abbess, "there are always reasons for why things happen the way they do, and the only thing you can do is accept that. We were told first so that we could accept the fact that there will be changes. None that we ourselves could ever control, things that not even you two can control." By the end of her little speech, the other occupants of the room didn't know whether Kate was red in the face with anger, or about to cry.

"Besides the fact that I'm some, 'Earth bound Angel,' what really is going to change, Sister Kate?" Ocean blue eyes looked into deep chestnut, "I'll always be a Sister here, so what's gonna change?"

Closing her eyes, Sister Kate straightened up and placed her hand on the handle of the door, "there will be more changes than you expect, Sister Rosette." with that, she left the room, closing the door softly behind her.

Blinking, Rosette stared at the door, not sure if she should be worried, or scared. "Ok, I'm confused, anyone else confused?"

Immediately Chrno raised his hand, he was just as much out of the loop as Rosette was. However, deciding that it was best that they weren't the only ones that seemed lost, Azmaria, Remington, Satella and Vincent all raised their hands as well. Being as she was still unconscious, Vincent raised Carmen's hand for her.

"We're just as confused by all this, Rosette." Az said in her timid voice.

"You still knew everything before Chrno and I did, what else do you guys know?" There was a hint of betrayal in her voice, a bit of sadness in her eyes.

Instead of answering, Azmaria began to sing. Slowly, she could feel her apostle powers regaining their strength. Perhaps, her singing could calm down Rosette's soul, which was warring inside itself. The soft lyrics that passed her lips, in fact did calm the occupants of the room. It was almost as if they were on a high, everyone sunk back into their chairs. In Remington's case, he sunk lower onto the floor, along with Satella. (Where he had slid after being hit by the slammed open door… thanks Satella) Ocean blue eyes seemed to become a glassy color as she fell into a trance. Crimson eyes also gained a glassy color as he too went into a trance.

Each and every occupant seemed to be going into one. The little apostle's song reached everyone, everywhere in the order. Elder, Anna, Mary, Claire, Sister Kate, and everyone else in the order, even the slumbering Carmen went into a trance. She knew that this was for the best, Mary had told her that everyone would need to understand. For them to understand, they needed to be put into this trance. That way, everyone would know the fate of Rosette and Chrno, and be able to accept it.

-----In Rosette's trance-----

_She was hovering, or so it felt like it. _

_There were figures beneath her, she couldn't tell who they were. _

_Moving in closer, she recognized everyone. _

_Satella, Azmaria, Remington, Kate, Anna, Mary, Elder, Carmen, Vincent, herself… Chrno… where was Claire? _

_A grave was in the middle of the circle of people. _

_Rosette floated near it. _

_She gasped, it read, 'Here lies Claire…' Rosette could read no more. _

_Chrno had his arm around a weeping blond haired young woman's waist. _

_Since when did Chrno do that? _

_They were talking… _

_"I know it's hard to accept Rosette, love, but you have to be strong for our daughter." _

_'Our daughter?' There was no way that could be, Rosette was celibate! There was no way she would have kids! _

_"She was a sister to me Chrno…" _

_Tears began to fall from the real Rosette's eyes, none of this could be real. _

_The Rosette and Chrno on the ground turned to her. _

_Did they see her? _

_Nothing was said, but it felt like their eyes were telling her something. _

_What, what were they trying to tell her? _

_The Rosette next to Chrno then fell to her knees. _

_"Please, Lord, guide safely the soul that has just departed us." _

_Chrno also fell to his knees, he continued her prayer. _

_"Allow her to live in eternal peace." _

_Azmaria then fell to her knees. _

_"Let her know that we shall always keep her in our hearts." _

_Kate was next. _

_"Also in our minds…" _

_Remington, "in our prayers…" _

****

_Elder, "in our thoughts…" _

_Anna, "with us always, the memory of your smile will stay." _

_Mary, "the good you've done will always be known, we'll keep the memory of you alive." _

_Satella, "so rest now, loving soul, rest in peace, knowing we'll always pray." _

_Tears streamed down the real Rosette's cheeks, no, it couldn't be! It wasn't fair! _

_Mary Magdalena suddenly appeared next to the real Rosette. _

_"Why… why does Claire have to be taken from us…?" _

_"Why must anyone leave us? To help whose left behind grow stronger." _

_"I can become stronger without my friends dying!" _

_Mary's form faded before her eyes. _

-----Chrno's trance-----

_He was in a dark room, no lights were to be found. _

_There was nothing to be heard, where was everyone? _

_Sounds began to echo throughout wherever Chrno was. _

_A blush crossed his face, whatever the noises were, they sounded… pleasurable. _

_An image slowly began to focus before him. _

_Slight pink hue turned crimson red, Chrno saw himself. _

_He was hunched over someone, who though? _

_Whoever was under him, called his name pleadingly, lovingly… _

_"Chrno…" _

_The other Chrno lowered his head towards the woman's neck. _

_"Rosette…" he murmured softly, biting into her flesh. _

_Heart now racing, he flew down to see what was really happening. _

_What he saw he couldn't describe. _

_He was… making love, to **his** Rosette. _

_"Never leave me, Chrno." She pleaded. _

_"I'd never think of such a thing, love." _

_Time seemed to fast forward. _

_Rosette was now pregnant. _

_The other Chrno was feeding their offspring his astral energy through the bite on her neck. _

_Both seemed so happy. _

_What about this scene was so deceiving? _

_The real Chrno flew in closer to look at their faces. _

_There were tears in Rosette's eyes. _

_"Claire is extremely sick, Chrno…" she was silent. _

_"She'll make it through, she's resilient, like you." _

_Time seemed to fast forward. _

_The other Chrno and Rosette were in the clinic. _

_They were sitting next to Claire, who was smiling and laughing. _

_"I knew you'd get better," Chrno smiled. _

_Tears were in Rosette's eyes, she launched herself at Claire. _

_"I was so worried, I couldn't lose you!" A baby girl cooed in Chrno's arms. _

_The image faded, and Mary Magdalena appeared before the real Chrno. _

_"This could be the outcome, are you strong enough to make it so?" _

_Chrno nodded his head, "I have to be, I can't let anything hurt Rosette anymore." _

_"You know then, that something bad will have to happen in place of Claire's death…" _

-----Satella's Trance-----

_She was in a room, styled elegantly. _

_This was Satella, why wouldn't she be in such a room? _

_People danced around the room, perhaps she was holding a ball. _

_She spotted people from the Magdalene order. _

_They danced without each other. _

_Sister Kate with Father Remington. _

_Azmaria with a blond haired boy, who was much taller than her. _

_Chrno in his true form… with Rosette. _

_Satella herself stood near a window, holding a small sleeping baby girl. _

_Someone came up to her. _

_"Sister, why are you not dancing?" _

_"I'm not in the mood, besides I'm babysitting." _

_The real Satella gasped, she had found her sister? She was _babysitting

_More to her surprise, it was the Fiore girl who was with Aion. _

_Aion, what about him? Why was there a party while he was running amuck? _

_She saw herself conversing with her sister further, she couldn't hear them. _

_Just stare. _

_Why were they not trying to find Aion? _

_Someone walked in. _

_It was Claire, she looked pale. _

_"Glad you were well enough to come." The other Satella said from across the room. _

_"Thank you for inviting us all, Miss Satella." _

_Wait, **she** had invited everyone, even Rosette? _

_The real Satella shook her head, but of course. _

_It was making sense now. _

_Rosette and Chrno were prophesized to be together. _

_She knew Remington and Kate would be together. _

_Things were coming together, Aion was gone, that blond boy was Joshua. _

_This must be a time after Rosette gave birth. _

Gasping, Satella shot up from the ground.

"I see you've come out of your trance, Miss Satella." Azmaria said as she smiled at the Jewel Witch.

Satella pressed her palm to her forehead, her normally narrow hazel eyes were wide. "Azmaria, I just saw… the future."

Giggling then sighing, Azmaria nodded, "everyone will see different futures. You must have seen Claire. She'll get really sick soon."

She turned her amethyst eyes towards Rosette, who had her head lolling over the back of the chair she sat in. "Though she looks positively repulsive at the moment, she looks to be in pain."

Azmaria frowned, "she must be seeing Claire's death…"

"How can I see her alive, yet Rosette sees her death?" Gazing at the little apostle girl, she awaited her answer.

"Everyone one of us will see something different, a future that pertains to them. Most of us _will_ see Claire in their vision, not everyone though. For Rosette and Claire themselves, they'll see Claire's death. This is because this is what must change, but in order for that…"

Blinking once or twice, she continued to look at the small albino girl, "something else must happen?"

"Did you see Mary Magdalena in your trance?"

"No," answered the witch simply.

"Then it will be Chrno and Rosette who will know what two outcomes there could be." Answered the little albino girl.

"So what must happen in order to keep Claire alive?" Satella thought on it a moment, "more to that, why is Claire so important?"

At this, Azmaria smiled, "she's not only a fine Sister at this order, but she's like a real, true, blood sister to Rosette. Not to mention, she's the reincarnation of the daughter Sister Kate was supposed to have."

Shocked, Satella stared at Azmaria, "what happened to her daughter?"

Azmaria said one word, 'miscarriage' and that was enough. Satella sat back against the wall, not caring that her gorgeous long red hair was a complete mess. What were the others seeing in their little, 'trances?' Sure Satella knew what had been going on, she knew everything before Chrno and Rosette. Yet, she hadn't known anything about Claire being… a reincarnation. Only thing now was what had to happen in order to keep Claire alive?

-----Kate's trance-----

_She was floating in a hospital room. _

_She saw herself. _

_Tears streamed down her cheeks. _

_Her daughter had been lost, due to miscarriage. _

_It was so unfair. _

_An angel appeared before her. _

_More tears ran down her cheeks, what more heartache could God give her? _

_The angel spoke. _

_"Your daughter shall be reincarnated, but you may never tell her so." _

_"Why, why can't I be allowed to hold my daughter, feel her warmth?" _

_"When the time comes." _

_The angel disappeared. _

_The image distorted. _

_She was now in the Magdalene order. _

_She was being accepted as the Abbess of the New York branch. _

_There was no prouder moment in her life. _

_Other than having been carrying a child. _

_She took care of everyone. _

_Rosette came to the order. _

_Disaster. Panic. Ruin. Mess. Eats everything in sight. Ugh. _

_Such a rash girl, reminds her of herself. _

_The scene changes, she was in the clinic. _

_Sister Claire was sick, extremely so. _

_Rosette sat next to her, sobbing loudly. _

_"Please Claire, you have to get better…" _

_It was a time while her daughter was still sick. _

_No outcome had been decided. _

_How did she get sick in the first place? _

_How was her daughter to get better? _

_Why get another chance at life, only to have it ripped away? _

_The images began to fade. _

_Black was all that was left. _

_She felt nothing, saw nothing. _

_Heard nothing, smelled nothing, she didn't even taste the smells in the air. _

_All she knew was the darkness, and the blue eyes that were Remington's. _

"So why are those two going to be the only ones who see the outcomes?" Satella questioned Azmaria.

"That's because the outcome is affected directly from them." Once more, both looked at Rosette and Chrno.

Neither looked to be having much fun, both their faces looked painful. Their hearts went out to the two of them, they had gone through so much. Chrno had become an outcast of his kind. He was used by Aion, and was made to kill his first love, Mary Magdalena. Later he was sealed within her tomb.

Rosette and Joshua lost their parents, and were sent from orphanage to orphanage. They had to deal with people trying to split them up. When they finally found a small sample of happiness, Joshua was ripped from Rosette's grip. Now she had to deal with her soul being drained from her.

Yet she couldn't hate Chrno, like he hoped she would. Instead, she grew to love him, more and more each day.

Both were leading a hard life, there was no doubt of that. Yet, everyone that knew the two also knew that they'd make it through anything. No matter what, they had to, Joshua's life counted on that.

-----Remington's trance-----

_Yet again, he was in the Elder's hut. _

_Once again, he was showing off a new bullet. _

_It was different this time. _

_The bullet was strange. _

_It was pearl white, in color. _

_Much more rounded and smooth, it had a glimmer. _

_There were holy symbols etched onto it. _

_Also symbols in ancient Latin. _

_Elder was telling him what it meant. _

_He couldn't hear what he was saying. _

_Remington walked out of the hut. _

_His feet took him towards the Order's main entrance. _

_He crossed the large doorframe. _

_On his way, somewhere deep within the Order. _

_It was Sister Kate's office. _

_She sat at her desk, writing out some report. _

_"Sister Kate," he said his voice soft. _

_Startled, she looked up, then smiled. _

_"Ewan," she said with a warm smile. _

_"I wish to speak with you," he began. _

_Nodding, she got up and shut the door. _

_"How are you dealing with all this?" _

_"I'm fine, Remington. I have to be, I have to be strong." _

_Despite her words, there were unshed tears in her eyes. _

_"You can't continue to deny how this affects you, Kate." _

_She averted her gaze. _

_"I know this, but I can't be selfish." _

_"God is forgiving, he'll understand." _

_She met his gaze. _

_"Be selfish with me." He pleaded his voice silky. _

Out of nowhere, Rosette arose from her seated position, screaming her head off. "DON'T YOU THINK ABO—" she stopped herself before she could finish her sentence. This wasn't where she was before.

"Rosette, you're awake!" Azmaria jumped out of her chair and ran to hug her best friend.

"Uh… yeah, I am." Rosette, being slightly bewildered, stared at the pale purple haired apostle.

"So you understand?"

"Yes, I do," Rosette answered, her eyes filled with an emotion Azmaria recognized as fear.

"Just do what you know you need to do Rosette, and everything will be fine." The pale haired apostle gave her best smile.

"So either… Claire dies… or something happens to me? How is that fair on either end?" she questioned, hugging her knees to her chest.

"You can't think of it like that Rosette…"

"But that's exactly what it is, right Az? Either she dies or I die… how is that fair?" she held her knees closer to her body. "I know I shouldn't be selfish, but despite the way I act sometimes, and how I disregard my life, I _do_ want to live!"

"Rosette…" the poor apostle tried to reason with her. "You don't get it…"

"What don't I get Azmaria?" questioned the blond nun, drained of energy.

"If whatever is supposed to happen to you happens, Claire won't die." She paused while Rosette snorted her disliking, "but you won't die either." This seemed to catch the blond nuns interest, "if whatever is supposed to happen to you occurs, neither of you will die."

"How do you know?"

" Magdalena told me that no matter what, you would not die. It's not what's meant to happen. No matter what, you _will_ survive Rosette, it just depends on you to keep Claire alive too." She smiled up at her blond friend.

A smile then too, appeared on Rosette's features, "thanks Azzy, you don't know what that means to me." It might have seemed selfish to want to live, after disregarding her life so much, but there was still so much she had to do. So many people she still had to save to get her brother back.

"I'm always here for you, Rosette." smiled the apostle, grabbing Rosette's hands in her own.

"Having said that, I'm going to the exorcist training grounds." Standing up, she stretched, her golden locks falling behind her neck.

"Why are you going there?"

"Target practice," grinned the nun, however, this confused the pale lavender haired girl, since when did the fiery nun need target practice?

-----Ten minutes later-----

Azmaria was still staring after Rosette. Satella hadn't said anything as the nun walked past her. Chrno soon woke up, and when he looked around, and his eyes never met Rosette's form, he worried. Shaking her head, Azmaria assured him that Rosette was fine. Frowning, he looked towards the door, he could feel her restlessness in the aura that surrounded the whole entire Order. Silently he followed that restless aura, he followed it to the training grounds. Finding her in the cold, underground building confused him.

What was the reason for her being down there, when she didn't need any kind of target practice?

He looked down upon her from the control room. The practice was set at 25, five levels above that which allowed her to become militia. True to that, the crimson eyed devil believed her test was even harder. She _did_ have to save Azmaria's soul. That had to have made it more difficult. Then again, no, when it came to her friends, Rosette wouldn't fail, she wouldn't let herself fail.

Looking down through the window, he pinpointed Rosette's location. At the moment, she was picking off the weaker of her mock opponents. If he hadn't known her better, he would have rushed to her side as a stronger devil came up behind her. There was no need though, she had somehow developed some sort of sixth sense. She was able to tell when there was someone behind her. Somehow he wondered if this sense developed so she'd know when he was behind her. To be truthful, he wouldn't doubt it.

Loading more bullets into the barrel of her gun, raising her arm above her head, she shot behind her. The sacred connected point-blank at the base of the horn in the middle of a devils forehead. Definitely she was getting better, but would she be able to pinpoint anyplace on Aion so easily? Would she be able to get the base of the horns on Joshua? True she had improved, but the last time, Joshua had been too fast. So what made her so sure that she could connect the shot now?

Gritting her teeth, she ran on, destroying her targets. When would she truly be ready to take on her own brother? How would she know when she was truly ready for such a thing? Taking a deep breath, Rosette calmed herself, she'd gain nothing if she kept doubting herself. Her senses seemed to pick up on an abnormally strong target behind her.

Whirling around, her gun came face to face with Chrno's forehead. Once again, she breathed in deeply, then smiled, "looks like you found me Chrno."

"What are you doing here Rosette, there's no need to train right now." He looked up into her glowing ocean blue eyes.

"I know, but I can't keep this thought out of my head. What if I'm not good enough to be able to get Joshua right at the base of the horns? What if I absolutely have to hit the mark? Joshua's fast, we've seen that before, he could dodge it, or worse. I could hit the wrong place." As she talked, she slid to the ground, her knees together, her legs fanned out.

Worried, hard crimson eyes softened, "is that why you're here? You don't believe your skills now are good enough?"

She let out a breathy laugh. "Why else would I be here Chrno?"

Smiling, the small devil grinned, "you won't get better at the skills you really need Rosette." A vein popping on the young nuns head, she interrupted before he could continue.

"Are you saying that I'm unskilled?" pushing up the sleeve of her habit, she got ready to attack the offending devil.

"No, no, that's not what I'm saying. What I _am_ saying, is that, you won't be able to hit your mark while practicing on targets where it doesn't truly matter where you hit them." Raising a brow, she listened to him, interested, "if you truly want to increase your skills, you need to practice on targets where it _does_ matter if you hit the exact mark."

The blond nuns face hardened, "I'm not using you guys as target practice."

"You don't have to use us, not the real us anyways." Rosette gave him a questioning look, "the Elder thought about it a lot while he was creating that bullet." He smiled, "wait here," with that, he disappeared, and within minutes, his form appeared next to her, without her noticing. When she turned around, she gasped.

"How'd you get there so quickly Chrno?" there was no answer, "Chrno… answer me damn it!" more veins popped on her forehead.

"Don't kill it Rosette! That's not really me, it's a program the Elder made." The little violet haired devil ran up to the nun.

"When did you find out about this?"

"He's been babbling about it for a long time, he actually started it when we first arrived here. Just because he's perverted, doesn't mean he doesn't know what he's doing."

"So he created these copies, so I could practice hitting my exact mark?"

"Yes, and there are several levels. First is a trial and error. You shoot, if you hit the right mark, you're lucky, if you don't, it'll show you what to look for. The next will be someone you know, with a point on them which you must absolutely hit. From there on that point becomes smaller, the opponent becomes faster and stronger, you have to be on your feet, ready for anything."

"When exactly, did you learn about this?" questioned the nun, grinning at her devil partner.

"The day before we were sent out on our last mission, the Elder said he could feel the time was nearing for, 'special training.'" For a moment, he was lost in thought.

"Why didn't you tell me this before?" standing up at her full height, she tried to look intimidating to the small being before her.

"Elder told me not to, I suppose it was just another thing everyone else was in on that we were clueless about." Chrno also stood up, looking up into the ocean blue eyes of his contractor. "You'll protect your friends Rosette, you won't fail." There was so much warmth in his smile, more than there ever had been before.

That warmth she saw, that warmth that fired up in his eyes, she had never noticed it before.

Had it always been there?

Her cheeks began to burn, when had those crimson eyes begun to bore so far into her soul? Why were her thoughts so rampid? What was it about this violet haired, crimson eyed devil that made her feel so, crazy?!

The feelings flowing through her at the moment were indescribable. There was no chance to think straight, and she felt herself becoming dizzy.

There was never a time that Rosette had truly depended on another.

Seeing her now, she seemed like a porcelain doll. A doll that would break whether left alone, or touched by even the gentlest of hands.

He could feel his face heat up, and he didn't miss the blush that crossed his contractor's face. Biting the inside of his lip, he could hear his angel's heart speed up. What was she thinking that would make her heart race so? His eyes bore into her's, and her eyes into his.

Rosette once more slid to the floor, (no rhyme intended) she couldn't tear her eyes from the crimson orbs of her companion. Chrno's feet were rooted to their spot, his eyes never breaking contact with Rosette's. His breath became short and rigid, his own heart began to speed up. Shaky tanned hands raised up to cup rose colored cheeks. The warmth from his hands on her face sent shivers down her spine.

She looked up into his eyes, her knees once again locked with her legs fanning out behind her. "Chrno…" she barely whispered.

One of her arms was extended out in front of her for balance. The other slowly raising towards her partners face. Her lips were slightly agape, his left hand left her cheek, to slowly trace her jaw line. Gently he curled his index finger under her chin. He tilted her smooth skinned chin upwards. Her soft and pale hand reached his cheek.

Slowly the two closed the gap between their lips. Their breathing growing increasingly short, Rosette's eyes fluttered shut. Half lidded crimson eyes glazed over, and finally closed. Was this truly happening?

"Rosette…" tanned lips captured soft, warm, pink lips in a gentle and timid kiss.

The contact was brief, but it was enough to send both to cloud 9. Crimson eyes opened dazedly, as did ocean blue. Chrno fell backwards, his precious contractor sitting back upon her legs.

Somewhere off in the distance, a huge metallic door was opened. Foot steps rang off the walls, louder and louder the closer they got. Pale lavender hair peeked past a corner, then a pale face with crimson eyes. Azmaria gazed at her two friends worriedly, they were just… sitting there!

Gulping, she looked on, watching for a reaction as she called to her friends, "uh… um, Rosette, Chrno!"

Being that Chrno's back was facing her, she couldn't tell if he had heard her. However, it was clear that Rosette had. She began blinking wildly, five blinks, ten blinks, 27… then she looked up. Blinking once more, something seemed to click in her mind, and her whole face went red. Her jaw dropped, and she panicked.

"Rosette, what's wrong?" cried the worried apostle.

"Uh, n-nothing!" she stammered, her eyes jolted from side to side, and finally she hit Chrno upside the head when he wasn't saying anything.

A huge knot appeared on the poor devils head, "ow! Rosette, what was that for?" complained the little devil.

For a moment she had no answer, "you distracted me from my training!" she bellowed randomly, which was, in fact true.

Gazing at them with swirly eyes, Azmaria swayed, "I'm so confu-u-u-u-sed…" she held her head.

The two chuckled nervously, "ehehe," they looked at each other than back to their friend, and continued to laugh nervously. Their little moment together, was secret, at least for the moment, it'd be that way.

_DK: Wow that was a long chapter. _

_R: Yeah, they just keep getting longer and longer… _

_C: _'yay, I got to kiss Rosette!' _I agree, very long indeed… -face turns red- _

_ER: Why is your face so red Chrno? _

_E: It couldn't be that you're having dirty thoughts, now could it? _

_SK: Edward! Stop that right now, he must be sick if he's flushing like that! _

_S: Yeah right, I bet he's just thinking about me. –Girlishly blushes, holding her face- _

_R: Get over yourself Satella. –Growls- _

_A: Please, no fighting! –Swirl eyes- _

_DK: yeah, no bickering, I gotta do the overview of the next chapter! _

_Carmen: Oh, can I do it? _

_Vincent: Why you? You'll start going off in random events! _

_DK: Hey, she's my character, I created her that way! _

_Anna: wouldn't that be a bad thing then? _

_Carmen: No way! _

_Vincent: Whatever. –Sighs- _

_Mary: What's with you guys today? You're all dead! _

_Claire: Those trances weren't fun… _

_DK: -sniffles- Don't tell me about it, I may cry. –Sobs- _

_C & R: Don't talk to _us_ about it! We're the ones being affected about it! _

_SK: Anyways, on with the overview… -pinches the bridge of her nose- _

_Carmen: Things begin to become weird between Rosette and Chrno. Carmen and Vincent are finally sealed within the pocket watch. Sister Kate, Father Remington and the others begin discussing what's left to be told of the prophecy that Rosette and Chrno don't know. Not a moments rest is allowed, devils begin to mercilessly attack New York. What's with the sudden spring in devil activity? _

_Vincent: God, you can't keep it simple can you Carmen? _

_Carmen: Nope! _

_DK: Dewa mata, minna! Ja ne! _

**Words to know: **

Zuberi- Egyptian name meaning 'strong'

Isis- Egyptian name meaning 'Female of Throne'

Dewa mata, minna- See you later, everyone

Ja ne- See ya


	4. SubChapter 1: Mad Driving Skills

Bing Bong! Subchapter Time!

DK: Yay, subchapter time, subchapter time!

C & R: The hell does that mean?

DK: That means…

SK: Yes?

DK: -Starts to fall asleep-

ER: What does it mean already! –Dies from suspense-

DK: -wakes up laughing- Buwahahaha! He died!

C & R: Just tell us already! –Yelling at author-

DK: -anime tears- you don't have to be so mean about it. –Sniffles-

Claire: its ok, Sister DK, so, what is a Subchapter?

Anna: Yeah, we wanna know!

Mary: Tell us, tell us!

DK: It's basically a chapter between other chapters.

Everyone????????

DK: Ok, you read the overview right?

Everyone: -nods-

DK: Basically, the subchapter is something miscellaneous that may or may not have anything to do with the original plotline or the next chapter.

E: Uh… does that mean I get to grope Rosette's lu—

DK: No, it doesn't, it means I'm making you guys go on random adventures.

C: Oh dear God… save us…

Carmen: Sounds fun!

Vincent: Whatever, on with the stupid chapter!

DK: SUBCHAPTER!

Vincent: Whatever…

To Give the Gift of Life

Subchapter One: Mad Driving Skills

Carmen ran after the small dark colored car as it drove off into the distance, "please don't leave me behind, take me with you!" lip quivering as she realized that the car wasn't going to turn around, she fell to her knees. 

"Shikata ga nai," (it cannot be helped.) Vincent calmly said to her, placing his hand upon her shoulder, stifling a laugh.

"Shut up Vincent, I know you're laughing…" the poor she-devil cried rivers, why did Rosette and Chrno have to be sent on a mission by themselves? "I don't wanna be left alone with the Elder!" her voice echoed throughout the order grounds.

-----Rosette and Chrno-----

"Ahh, there's nothing like driving on a country road, ne Chrno?" Ocean blue eyes sparkled, Rosette leaned out the window, allowing the wind to catch up in her hair.

Leaning out his own window, the violet haired devil smiled, "true, but don't get too relaxed, you gotta concentrate on driving."

"Aww Chrno, you worry too much, no ones ever on these kinds of roads!" instead of putting up a real fight, she continued to lean out the window.

Sighing contently, Rosette looked on, watching for other drivers so she could put Chrno's fears to rest. Sister Kate had sent them on a solo mission, just the two of them. Far as she knew, it seemed like there was a devil sighting in Rhode Island. Unfortunately, for them, they didn't have a branch like the Magdalene order. Therefore, Rosette was the obvious choice. Why, she didn't know exactly, but it could be the fact that with the way she drove, she could get there sooner rather than later.

"You sure we're going the right way, Chrno?" questioned the blond nun, out of nowhere.

"Yeah, we're on the right road."

"You sure?" she questioned, giving him a wry look.

"I'm sure, I'm not holding the map upside down like I did when I was sick." He reassured the nun.

Eyes widening, a blush crossed the young nuns face. Remembering when Chrno had gotten sick on the way to San Francisco. She had asked the small devil which turn was next…

Eyes glancing both ways, she looked to her partner, "ok, which way now, Chrno."

His eyes slowly drifted towards the map, "mmm… right."

Raising a brow she looked at him questioningly, "there's no right turn, just a straight go ahead and a left."

"Oh, then left I guess."

"There's no guessing with you Chrno, what's up?" she gave her partner a worried look.

"I'm fine," he looked at the map again, his eyes seemed unfocused, "straight."

Following his instruction, due to the fact he was better with directions, she came to another stop, "now where?"

"Left."

"Chrno…"

"Yeah, Rosette?"

"Give me the damn map."

"No, Sister Kate told me to give out the directions."

"THEN STOP GIVING ME TURNS THAT DON'T EXIST!" bellowed the angry teenager into the poor demons ear. "C'mon, let's look at the map outside, there's not enough light in here." Course not, it was in the middle of the night.

Stepping out of the car, she trotted over onto his side of the car, opened the door and dragged Chrno out. Grabbing the map from his hands, she placed it on the hood of the car. Blinking as she looked at the map, she wondered. It made no sense everything was… upside down.

"Chrno…"

"Yeah, Rosette?"

"You were reading the map upside down."

He looked shockingly towards the nun, "I have not!" trying his best to scrutinize the map, he swayed on his feet. The world began to become a swirl of color, light and sound.

It was only a matter of seconds when he felt his body beginning to lean over. Unfortunately, as he was falling, his face landed right in-between Rosette's breasts. Biting her lip, almost making it bleed, a vein popped.

"Ch…rn…o!" BAM! The angered nun threw the poor devil into the air, and kicked him into orbit.

When he finally landed on the ground next to the car, Rosette walked up to him, ready to give him the beating of his life. However, she noticed that his cheeks were flushed. Did devils get sick? On the other hand, was he just blushing? Deciding she'd investigate before she killed him, she found out that yes, somehow, devils do get sick. (AU: Yes, I realize I changed it, I've seen the episode [must say, quite the cutest thing I ever did see, funny too but I wanted to make it a bit different.)

They had had to go back to the Order so Chrno could get better. It had been so embarrassing, they hadn't even gotten out of the city limits and her partner had to go and get sick. The entire day she had searched for a medicine to help him. Everyone had laughed at her when she said she needed a medicine that would work even on a devil.

In the end of course, the medicine she came back with had no effect. Running out of options quickly, she decided maybe a fortuneteller would know what to do. Needless to say, it wasn't a solution she would have suggested. Yet, though wrong it felt to do something like that while he was sleeping and unawares… it felt… unnaturally right to do so at the same time.

"Rosette… are you… feeling ok? Your face is all flushed." Placing one hand upon her forehead, and the other upon his own, he closed his eyes.

"Chrno, I'm fine! Geez, you worry too much!" fumbling around, she knocked his hand from her forehead.

Why did she have to remember that day? For what reason did she have to be reminded that she…

"Gah! I don't wanna think about it!" clenching her eyes shut, the car swerved and both heard another car honk its horn.

"Watch where yer goin', girly!" growled a man from another car.

"Why don't you watch where you're going pal?" growled Rosette, giving the man a death glare.

"Try driving a little faster!" yelled the man.

"Is that a challenge?"

"What if it is?"

"YOU'RE ON GRANDPA!" Revving up the car, Chrno looked over at Rosette with a terrified look.

"What are you doing? We have a mission to do!" however, the fiery nun hadn't seemed to have heard him.

"You're going down girly!"

"Bite me!" both revved the engines once more, and with a giant squeal from the tires, both sped off, creating a huge cloud of smoke.

Quickly buckling himself into his seat, Chrno prayed the restraint would keep him from flying out the window. On the other hand, Rosette was speeding down the road. She death glared at the old man every once in a while. It seemed to happen when either one seem to take the lead. For such an old looking person, he was quite the reckless driver. Blond hair whipping her face, the ocean blue eyed nun was frustrated. Why did her hair have to be so long? Oh yeah… she liked it that way.

"Chrno, hold my hair back, it's getting in my eyes!"

"Something's gotten into your mind!" cried the poor devil, hanging onto his seat as he bounced roughly from the bumpy road.

"Quit being a baby, do something about my hair before we crash!" giving her one more terrified look, Chrno turned in his seat, doing his best to keep his balance.

"Please keep the car steady, it's gonna hurt if you go over another bump." Grunting her understanding, the crimson-eyed devil grabbed ahold of the young nun's locks.

Twisting the soft strands, he made a loop, and pulled all her hair through it. Her hair was now in a knot… sort of. "Good job Chrno, now sit back and enjoy the ride."

"I beg of you, Rosette," sobbed the little devil, "please stop this race!" his plea fell on deaf ears and his companion pumped up the speed.

Insults began to be thrown back and forth. Such things as, 'dirty old man,' and 'know-it-all girly,' were said. Chrno tried not to pay attention to it while he clung to his seat. The harsh wind whipped Chrno's long violet braid around. Like her own hair, Chrno's was frustrating the nun to no ends.

"Now you're hairs in my way!"

"My hair could never been in the way!" protested the little devil, holding his long violet braid to his chest.

"Well it's in mine, so get it out of my way!" Growled the adrenaline pumped nun while standing up in her seat as if she were in a bike race instead of a car race.

Holding onto his hair, he cried fake tears, "such cruel words I thought you weren't capable of, Rosette."

She didn't reply to his words, "ROAD CLOSED?" shocked, Chrno looked up to see what she was talking about.

Eyes widening with fear, his crimson orbs landed on a road closed sign. Not just any kind of road either, it was a bridge.

"ROSETTE WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO? THE BRIDGE IS OUT!"

"I KNOW THAT, STOP YELLING AT ME!"

"DO SOMETHING!" Swerving the car off to the left of the bridge, the car zoomed down a steep hill that led to a shallow river.

The other car had gone to the right, barely comprehensible curses coming from both drivers. Tears poured in rivers from Chrno's eyes. This was it, this is where he'd die. While driving up the bank of the river, Rosette glanced over at the other car. It seemed he couldn't get up the hill. Brow twitching mercilessly, Rosette got up to the top of the hill, and stopped the car. She waited for a minute or so for the old man to get himself out off the bank. When she noticed it wasn't working, she grudgingly unbuckled herself, got out of the car, and stomped over to the old man.

"What are you doin' girly? Get back in your car, this ain't over." Hissed the man, clutching the steering wheel with his wrinkled knuckles.

"It seems you're stuck, it's not much of a challenge if you can't even get your ass over this hill." Turning back towards the orders car, she called out to her partner, "c'mon Chrno, help me get this guy up the hill."

Sighing, Chrno unbuckled himself and opened his door, "why am I always pulled into your messes?" questioned the poor devil.

"Stop whining and help me push this junker up the hill." Pushing the sleeves of her habit up her arms, she braced herself to push.

Rolling his eyes, he did the same, even while in his smaller form, he still had quite a bit of strength. Together they pushed the old car up the hill. Clapping her hands together to get rid of the dirt, Rosette grinned towards the old man. To her surprise, he was grinning back at her.

"There's a reason the good guys always lose, girly," he said, that stupid grin still plastered on his face, "they're too nice and always end up last." With that, the old man sped off, laughing his head off.

Eye thoroughly twitching, the blond nun dragged Chrno towards their own car. Throwing open the car door, she plopped in her seat and slammed the door. Just a little afraid of his contractor, Chrno opened the door to his side of the car, got in and quietly shut the door. His lovely contractor was pissed, extremely so, and when that happens, you don't talk, you just sit back and let her vent. Out of nowhere she began to grin.

"Good guys always lose, huh Grandpa? You'll be eating my dust within minutes." Once more grinning like a lunatic, she revved up the car.

It was then that Chrno noticed something just under the steering wheel. "Uh, Rosette…" poor violet haired devil, never had a chance to say anything before she pushed the little red button.

Without warning, the car shot down the road, Chrno screaming for his life, Rosette cackling like a hyena. Gripping the steering wheel tightly, Rosette cackled insanely, and when the old man came into view, her eyes seemed to gain a spark. This, the little devil did not miss, and this, he did not like. She was going to get them killed because of her inability to turn down a challenge. Worse than that fate, she might get them lost, (which he was sure they already were) or most likely, she'd crash the car, and they'd have to walk the rest of the way.

'Please God, answer this prayer, let us get to Rhode Island safely.' Not so sure how effective it was, he clung to his seat like a scared child to its mother.

Laughing manically as she continually launched the car into the air from the small hills on the road, the Order car was closing in on the old man. Chrno seriously wanted to cry, why oh why, couldn't she turn down a challenge? Then again, not all the challenges she did were bad. Most of them were, not 100 percent though. Being the direction of his thoughts were semi-positive, Rosette's thoughts were murderous.

There was no way this guy was gonna win. Not while she had the rocket boosters, the Elder had installed in the car. How she loved these speedy inventions. Not so much the old man who designed them, but the inventions themselves were awesome. With the inventions of that perverted old man, she'd take over the world! When that was done, she'd make all the old geezers like this guy bow down to her!

Shaking her head roughly, the blond nun concentrated. She wasn't a nun so she could take over the order, she was there to save Joshua. Besides, she'd be able to win against this geezer.

'He's probably a devil in disguise, if push comes to shove, I shoot him.' Of course, in her mind, it sounded perfect, but she knew he wasn't a devil. Chrno would have said something. So instead of outright murder…

"Gonna pound this guy into the ground… make him beg for mercy…" mumbled the adrenaline pumped nun.

Once again Rosette was standing up in her seat, she popped her head out the window, glaring at the old man. Within his rear-view mirror, he saw that Rosette was gaining on him. Turning back to look at the road, he pushed his car to go as fast as it could go. Still, the infuriating nun was coming up fast. Ocean orbs noticed smoke coming from the old mans car, was it another trick? The old junker began to slow down, the order car sped right past it. Looking back over her shoulder, Rosette grinned.

"Hahaha, I win Grandpa, in your face!" So busy with yelling her victory to the world, the nun didn't notice she was going off the road.

"Rosette…" his voice was quiet.

"Not now Chrno, I'm basking in my victory."

"Rosette…" now he sounded terrified.

"Bwuahaha that old man never stood a chance in hell!"

"ROSETTE WOULD YOU KEEP YOUR EYES IN FRONT OF YOU?" he lunged for the wheel, but it was too late.

The old Order car launched off the road over the cliff of a gorge. Blinking wildly, Rosette's heart seemed to stop for a moment. The car wasn't moving, there were no bumps to be felt in the road, and she hadn't crashed into anything. Then the car slowly went into a nosedive towards a rocky bottom. Seeing the mesh of red brown rock made Rosette's heart beat with fear.

"OMG WE'RE GONNA DIE!"

"I TRIED TO WARN YOU!"

"DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT CHRNO!"

Gritting his teeth, thinking quickly the best thing to do, he unbuckled himself. "Rosette, unbuckle yourself and take my hand." Looking at him with a terrified look, she nodded and did as she was told.

Taking a deep breath, Chrno pulled the latch to the door, and kicked it off its hinges. Pulling Rosette closer to him so that she was dangling from his back, he quickly jumped out of the car. There were rocks protruding from the sides of the cliffs, and one was close enough to grab. Hanging off the protruding rock, both looked down, and watched as their ride fell.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you…" Rosette mumbled under her breath.

CRACK!

Chrno paled, this couldn't be happening, "don't celebrate quite yet." The weight of the two on the rock made it crack again.

A huge crash was heard at the bottom of the gorge, the order car was smoking. Unless he did something, both of them would be nothing more than puddles of human and devil flesh. It all seemed to happen at once. The first rock he grabbed onto broke. Holding onto her devil partner tighter, Rosette tried her best not to scream in terror. Once more, he had found another rock to grab onto. However, the momentum of their fall caused that rock to break instantly.

Running out of ideas, the poor devil bit his lip, but somehow Rosette beat him to the punch line. "Chrno, I'll break the seal!"

Out of the many times she had recklessly asked him to allow her to break the seal in any situation, this time, was not such a time. There was no way around it, he'd have to fly them out of this mess. The seal on the watch broke, Chrno was surrounded by a dark aura of astral. His body changed from that of a 12-year-old boy to that of a young man. Black wings sprouted from his back, dislodging Rosette from his back. Quickly, he shot down to catch her.

Sighing in relief once Rosette was secure in his arms, he flew out of the gorge. Just behind him, the car down at the bottom of the gorge exploded. Looking back at the receding form of fire and smoke, Chrno flew on, flying himself and Rosette to safety. Clinging to him tightly, Rosette looked back at the wreckage behind and below. Yellow, red and orange flames began to seem smaller and smaller the farther Chrno flew. The young blond nuns breathing began to shorten.

"Damn it, I need to find a place to land, now." Cursing under his breath, Chrno scrutinized the land for a good spot to land.

"Chrno…" ocean blue eyes strained to stay open.

Feeling the panic starting to bubble under his skin, his search for a place to land became desperate. Why did there have to be so much poison oak around?

"Chrno… devil…" for a moment, he was puzzled by her words, of course he was a devil. She knew this from the beginning.

Before he could make sense of what she was saying, a pain spiked up and down his spine. Quickly glancing behind himself, he cursed, that's what Rosette had meant. Crimson eyes glared at the wrinkled devil. Wait… didn't that devil look familiar?

"Old… man." Affirmed the nun, thinking exactly as Chrno had been thinking, the old man had been a devil in disguise.

With one swift motion, the crimson-eyed devil placed Rosette over his shoulder. Confusion laced her form, and from that confusion, came an answer. The blond nun heard the distinct click when the barrel of her gun is snapped back in place. Eyesight being impaired by the wind created from Chrno's wings, it took her a minute to realize that her violet haired partner was handing her, her gun.

"Don't worry about shooting my wings Rosette just concentrate on the old man's horns." Rosette looked at him through a half daze, she wasn't sure about this.

"Chrno I…"

"Just do it."

Not able to put up an argument, she took the warm metal object into her hands. The added weight felt heavy to her tired arms, but despite her exhaustion, she lifted her arms and took aim. Blurry vision made it hard for her to pinpoint where the wrinkly gray haired devil was. Either that or the devil really wasn't staying in one place.

"I can't… get a clear… shot." Panted the nun, becoming slightly irritated at the extended time this was taking.

"Just aim straight ahead of you, I'll tell you when to shoot. Don't worry about my wings, I'll manage."

Without argument, she nodded. Long intense moments followed. The old man kept throwing attacks at the pair, probably hoping to knock them out of the sky. Several attacks nicked Chrno's skin, causing him to hiss or growl in pain. Sadly, the more damage he took, the more of Rosette's life he stole. Silently, he prayed the devil would fall into position, sooner rather than later. A miracle was born when Chrno sensed he was in the right spot.

"Fire! Now!"

BANG!

The speeding bullet quickly ripped through Chrno's wings, causing him to gasp in momentary pain. However, with the howl of pain from the opposing devil, and the lack of demonic aura told Chrno he was dead. Luck must have been on his side, either that or God really liked him today. Crimson eyes spotted a small patch of land under a shaded tree. Swooping down to the site, Chrno touched down and ran towards the trunk of the tree. At once, he let Rosette down, and leaned her against the tree. After he was sure she could rest well, he transformed back into his 'normal' 12-year-old self.

"How are you feeling Rosette?" asked the worrisome devil.

Grinning weakly, she gave him a thumbs up, "totally jake Chrno."

Sighing, he gave her a sweet smile, "that's good." Of course, he knew she was extremely tired, but if she had energy enough to give him 'thumbs up', then she'd be ok.

"So what do we do? We don't have a ride." Nodding, Chrno agreed, this was posing to be a problem.

Looking into the sky, the violet haired devil contemplated, "this puts us in a pinch, no phone and no transportation."

"You could always…"

"No," he said, cutting her off, "I already wasted enough of your time."

Silence reined for a while, "Chrno, how come that devil died after I shot off only one of its horns?"

For a moment he seemed to think, whatever he was thinking about didn't seem to take to long to form into words, "it was most likely an old devil."

"Well… you're old."

"Not really, in devil terms, I'm still extremely young. That devil was probably thousands upon thousands of years old." This seemed to shock Rosette, which only made the small devil smile.

"Well, compared to me you're old." She huffed childishly.

Chuckling lightly, the small devil smiled warmly, "I suppose you're right."

For some reason, that smile of his was infectious. The fiery blond nun had no choice but to smile back. Ocean blue orbs turned towards the treetop, "so, how long do you think before someone either comes along, or the Order realizes something may have happened to our ride?"

Surveying the area, crimson eyes smiled, "I don't think it'll be a problem, it looks like there's a path where the poison oak hasn't overrun. We can get to the road and follow it to the next town."

"How will we know we're going the right way? We kinda lost our map." Stated the nun.

"We'll manage, besides if while we're walking, I get tired, you can carry me." Inwardly he grinned, he knew this would fully bring his Rosette back to her normal self.

"Che, yeah right Chrno, if anyone's gonna be carried, it's gonna be me."

"I'm too short though."

"You'll manage," snorted the nun, laughing afterwards.

"Surely if someone saw us, they would think it horrible for a woman of the Church to make a child carry her." Mock worried Chrno.

"I'll tell them you're my older extremely short friend." This time Chrno snorted, "Well its true isn't it? You are older than I am, Mr. God-Knows-How-Freaking-Old-You-Are-Chrno."

For a moment, Chrno's eyes held a small portion of hurt, of course all he was, was her friend. However, when she raised her brow at him, he argued back, "yeah well… I'm shorter than you?"

Once again, Rosette raised her brow, this time in confusion. "That's your comeback? You're shorter than I am? Wow Chrno, that was lame."

"Its better then saying… 'No, your toe!' " His eyes shifted from left to right.

"Ok, what the hell Chrno, 'no, your toe,' what have you been smoking?" Questioned the nun, not sure what to think about her partner's randomness.

"What do you mean, you know I don't smoke." He grimaced, scrunching his nose at the thought.

"Then where the hell are you hearing this stuff, and what are they smoking?" for a moment, both were silent, when about to say something they closed their mouths.

"Carmen and Vincent…" both said at the same time.

"Their infecting us Chrno, I think secretly their insane." Commented Rosette, at the same moment, so many hundred of miles away, deep within the Order walls, a certain two devils sneezed three times.

"Oooo, someone's thinkin' badly 'bout us Vinny!"

"Stop calling me that!"

After a few moments of laughing, both sat back against the tree, "it's gonna be fall soon." Pointed out the nun.

"Yeah, we need to see if we can get a mission to a place with a lot of different trees." It was no secret from anyone in the Order, especially not Rosette, but the small devil loved the changing color of the leaves.

"Wonder if Sister Kate would let us go on another mission out of state. Considering how we're handling this one." She laughed lightly.

"Well, really, nothing really could have been avoided…" again, he averted his eyes, side to side, "besides, Sister Kate trusts you more than that."

"I suppose so," grunting with the effort, Rosette pushed herself onto her feet, "well I guess we should be heading out. We need to find a town, I'm hungry."

Blinking wildly, Chrno fell over, "is food all you can ever think about?"

For a moment, she seemed to be lost in thought, however, the grin that plastered itself across her face said something else, "yeah, pretty much." She replied, smiling brightly at her devil partner.

However, of course, both knew this wasn't true. However much food was on her mind, her little brother was on it more. Everyone who knew her could tell just by seeing the things she does, that her brother is always on her mind. Everything she has done up until this point, and the things she will do beyond this point, have been in preparation to free her brother from Aion. Joshua. That's all she seemed to care about sometimes, it was no wonder she didn't feel anything more than friendship towards the violet haired devil.

Joshua was to blame, for taking up all her thoughts. Then again, at the same time, he couldn't blame the boy. It wasn't his fault Aion was a manipulative bastard. This, the little devil knew all too well.

Snap! Snap! Snap!

"Chrno, earth to Chrno, stop spacing out on me and let's go!" shaking his head, crimson orbs stared up into ocean blue.

"Sorry, Rosette." He then smiled, trying to hide the pain he felt inside. There wasn't much he could do about Rosette. He couldn't force her to love him, no way in hell he'd try.

If he revealed his feelings for her, she might become frightened. That was one thing the little devil didn't want. If Rosette ever ran from him… surely, that'd be more then he could ever take. Never did he want to see fear in the young nuns eyes directed at him. Fear should not be present in her eyes when she looks at him, there was no need for such an emotion, such a feeling. No way in hell would Chrno ever do something to hurt or scare his Rosette.

BAM!

Pale fists on either side of Chrno's head began to assault him, "Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! OW! Rosette stop, what did I do?" cried the poor devil, trying his best to escape the noogie attack. Why should he though, it wasn't like it really hurt.

"If you want me to stop than stop spacing out!" she continued her super noogie attack until Chrno swore not to space out again.

Stretching her arms towards the sun, Rosette yawned, this was going to be a longer day than expected. When the sun hit the middle of the sky, the two began walking down the path to the road. It was a warm day, yet not overly hot. A gentle breeze caressed the small amounts of bare skin on the nun. The feeling sent a shiver down her spine. It was such a lovely day.

Chrno's state of mind was much the same. It was truly a beautiful day. Both walked down the road, arms behind their heads, staring at an angle towards the sky. A warm smile adorned Chrno's features. Despite all that had happened today, it seemed to be a relatively good day. Only one attempt on their lives so far. That was a record when put next to other days. Thinking on it, the two hardly ever got any peace. Today was truly a blessing, an odd blessing, but one none-the-less.

"How long do you think before we reach a town?" asked the nun with a loud yawn.

Tiredly looking into the sky, the crimson-eyed devil thought for a minute, "It might be a while. I don't smell any other humans as of yet."

"You smell any food." She questioned.

"Mm, I think you'd smell food long before I would." At this, both laughed.

"Well if I do smell any food you'll know." After this was said, the two were silent for a time.

Even after all that had happened in the past few days, it was still nice to be in his presence. It was as if he could calm her, merely by being near her. This fact made the young nun smile, there would be many times where that would come in handy. As she became lost in her thoughts, she could hear Chrno purring. Purring like a cat. It was a mystery to her why he would purr, what made him purr like that. He always purred when she combed and braided his hair.

Yet, that wasn't the only time he'd purr. When he was asleep in the car, he'd purr. Even when he was having fun, in some form, he was purring. From this, Rosette wanted to know if Chrno was really a devil, or a cat. Did devils really purr? Or did she always imagine it? Now she really wanted to know.

"Chrno are you a cat or something?" ocean orbs widened, she hadn't really meant to say that out loud.

"Wha? I'm pretty sure I'm not a cat, Rosette." Answered the devil, confusion laced his voice. "Why do you ask?"

"You purr a lot."

"I do?" obviously, he had never noticed. This was quite sad.

"You never noticed? You purr all the time, like whenever I brush out then braid your hair, or when you fall asleep in the car. How could you not notice you're purring?"

When the devil said nothing, Rosette looked at him. The young devils eyes were wide, his face red, sweating profusely, eye twitching mercilessly. Rosette raised a brow, what was his problem? All he did was purr, it wasn't like he was shooting off lasers or something in his sleep. She had an urge to poke him, she wanted to know what made him so embarrassed.

'Have I really been purring?' The question racked his mind, he couldn't have… right?

"I… I guess I never noticed. When did this start?"

"You've done it ever since we met."

Steam began to pour out of the devils ears. His face grew ten shades of red. His jaw hung and his body melted onto the ground. It couldn't be, he couldn't have been doing such a thing since he met her! Ocean blue orbs blinked in confusion, what was Chrno's complex with the purring thing? It wasn't like she minded it or anything. Hell, it was cute!

BAM!

"Ow! What was that for Rosette?"

"I told you to stop spacing out on me! If you're not paying attention, who's gonna save me if I get myself into trouble?"

The poor devil rubbed his head, a distraught look on his face, "if you need saving, whether I'm paying attention or not, I'll save you." A gentle smile rolled across his lips.

With a small blush, and a racing heart, Rosette nodded, "yeah sure, just make sure you pay attention. Lord knows we'll get lost if you don't lead the way."

At this, the two had to laugh, though sad, as it was Rosette's horrible sense of direction was often funny. Another breeze crossed their path, and after that, the two walked in comfortable silence. Things stayed comfortable between the two as they walked down the long dirt road. Occasionally, a small animal would cross their path, like a squirrel or a chipmunk. Mostly, the two walked along, with only each other as company.

Rosette yawned repeatedly, and that action caused Chrno to yawn as well. For some reason, it made the two want to laugh. It started as a small giggle from Rosette, and a small, relaxed, and truly happy smile from Chrno. Then Rosette cracked when her partner nearly tripped over a stray plant. After that, a manure pile made Chrno dizzy and fall over, which though unpleasant for Rosette, made her laugh so hard she had to clutch her stomach. The young nun was barely able to drag Chrno far enough from the site with all her laughter.

Once the pile was out of site, Rosette fell over. It may have been a strange day, but it was too funny. Still clutching her stomach, she rolled on the ground laughing. When he fully recovered, Chrno gazed at his contractor, wondering why she was rolling on the ground. For a moment the nun stopped, wondering if her partner had recovered. When she saw the clueless half-dazed look in his eyes, her laughter renewed ten fold. Had he not known that behavior like this was normal, he'd have thought something was seriously wrong with his contractor.

There was much he had learned from his contractor. "You should have seen your face, Chrno!" choked out his contractor.

He learned what it was like to deal with emotions, "that look was priceless!"

Not to mention how hard it was to keep strong feelings in check, "remind me to never take you to a farm."

Before he met Rosette, he couldn't take pleasure in the simple things. A butterfly, a caress from the wind, a rainy day, or a sunny day. "Ah man, my stomach hurts, I don't think I've laughed that hard in a long time."

She'd taught him to laugh, to look at the world in a new light. When it snowed, it wasn't just a troublesome obstacle in his way. It was a time for fun and snowball fights. The rain wasn't just something to impair his vision, it was a time to run and dance around. When the sun beat down upon them, it was time to swim, instead of hide in some dank cave. It was also a time to have a picnic under a tree, and tell stories and eat already prepared food.

This one girl, this one young woman had taught him so much. Yet, the only thing he could do to help her was to help her find her brother. The single most important person in her life.

"Isn't that right, Chrno," for a moment she paused, "Chrno?"

She looked at her small devil partner, his eyes were down cast, and it seemed like at any moment he could cry. "Were you not listening to me again?" she asked lightly.

"Huh? Oh, sorry Rosette, no I wasn't." his contractor sighed.

"I said, 'me and you, we're like one. We'll be together forever no matter the circumstance.' Right?" he nodded, they would always be together, whether she was his mate or not.

"Anyways, I think I smell food."

Chrno gagged, "how can you smell food? My nose's still clogged from the manure pile back at that farm!"

"That's you, not me, I have a different sensitive kinda nose!" grinned, she pointed at herself with her thumb proudly.

Sighing, he nodded, "I should never try to defy thy great nose, Honorable Rosette." He bowed before her as if she was a Queen or something.

"Yes, no one shall defy my nose!" for a minute, she thought about his words, "wait… 'Honorable Rosette?' That makes me sound ancient!"

"Someone's a little slow today…" mumbled the devil.

Rosette was on him in a matter of seconds, "what was that Chrno?" she yelled, his head locked in her arms.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! I said nothing, nothing!" the poor devil squirmed in her grasp.

"That's what I thought," and she let up on her assault.

After letting up on her assault, she watched as Chrno rubbed the sores on his head. Though it looked painful to her, she knew that really, it was all a ploy. The super noogie attacks she bestowed upon Chrno never really hurt him. How could they? He was a devil, infinitely built better than a human was. This fact made her a little jealous. Sure, devils had a huge weakness. If they were to lose their horns they could die easily by using up their astral, but humans did not need that weakness. They could die just fine without worrying about using too much astral.

Smiling to herself, gazing at the sky, she thought on all her weaknesses. She was human, any devil who meant her serious harm could break her body in two if they wanted. Not to mention, quite a few humans were arrogant bastards. Humans were more likely to get sick, therefore, more likely to also die from getting sick. They aged quicker, therefore, a short life span was always in a humans future. When they aged, they lost their senses, hearing, sight, taste, touch, yada, yada.

Sighing loudly, the young nun tried to change her train of thought. Instead of the faults and downfalls of humans, she thought of the winter season. It was fall now, in another couple of months, there would be snow falling to the ground. It would be time to make snow angels, have snowball fights, and make snow igloos and snowmen. The only thing that stunk about the winter season was all the ice and snow. You never knew where there was a covered up hole, or if the ice over a lake was thick enough. Hell, most of the time you couldn't even see if there was a body of water anywhere.

"Are we taking turns spacing out or something?" his question came from nowhere.

"I don't know, we shouldn't be."

"God knows we only get into trouble when we don't pay attention."

The nun sweat dropped, "that's literally everyday, thanks for making it seem like I have the attention span of a two year old."

"Well… it's not always you who doesn't pay attention, I wasn't paying attention to the old man back there." He stated.

"How come you didn't notice he was a devil?"

Averting his eyes, he looked up, and then to the right, "uh… because I… was too busy with thoughts of eminent death by car crash maybe?"

"Do I seriously drive that horribly?"

"Maybe?"

"Chrno… just tell me the truth."

"When you're in a hurry, yes."

"Chrno?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks for being honest with me. I don't think anyone at the Convent are really straightforward with me besides Sister Kate. It's like everyone's trying to protect me from myself." It seemed as if she were smiling longingly at the ground.

"You know I'll always be truthful to you Rosette." Well, that was half a lie, he knew he couldn't be honest with her when it came to how he felt about her.

"Ah well, I guess I can be a little reckless."

"A little? You practically destroy the convent everyday!"

"Ok, ok! So I'm really reckless!"

"You always have been, but you know, with that recklessness, is actually a lot of responsibility."

"Chrno, responsibility and recklessness does not go together."

"I know, but when it really counts, you're very responsible. When facing a devil, one you know that could help you find your brother, you don't just charge in and start asking questions, you assess the situation like you should always do."

"You saying I don't know how to take down a devil?"

"No, I'm just saying, when it counts, you're not reckless in what you do, which really, you should take your time with all cases with devils. When you're not, buildings tend to fall."

"There's something on your mind, isn't there Chrno?"

The half question, half statement, surprised the small devil, eyes a little wide, he gazed up into his contractor's eyes. He could never hide something from her forever, "I… just thinking of how reckless I myself am." He chuckled a bit, "I guess I have no right to call you reckless when I'm more so reckless than you."

For a moment she was silent, her arms crossed, staring sideways at him as they walked, "um… yeah… what are you talking about Chrno? You're the one that always takes the blame, even for my mistakes."

"The times where I didn't have control over myself, like right outside of the convent, and in San Francisco…"

"Ok, first off, the time in front of the convent you thought I was killed, and in San Francisco Aion had gotten ahold of me. You were angry, it's only to be expected."

"It's only to be expected that I'm still a ruthless killer, no matter what form I take on." Rosette clenched her fists.

"That's not true Chrno."

"It is though, isn't it? I am a devil, everything about me says devil, it's who I am. Devils are killers, that's all we'll ever be. It's all I'll ever be." Chrno's head hung low, and his voice trembled.

A vein popped on Rosette's forehead, clenching her fist as tightly as she could, she punched him harshly in the cheek, "you're not like them Chrno! No matter how similar you are to them, you're not like them! You are not Aion! San Francisco wasn't your fault!" tears started to drip down her cheeks, "it was Aion's fault, he's the one that used my brother to keep you down. Aion was the one that led you all over the city to destroy it, you never deliberately hurt anyone or anything! Not since the day I met you."

Her whole body was tensed, fists were shaking, "sure you may have been more secretive about things when I was younger. Maybe you even weren't as open as you are now, but it doesn't change the fact that you're not like them, not like Aion."

"Rosette I…" he had no clue what to say, his chest hurt, as if someone was grabbing his heart.

"Listen to me Chrno, you shouldn't doubt yourself like that, I may not know everything you've done in the past, really, I don't care. All that matters is what I know is true. You act more like a saint than a devil, for God's sake, you help me save countless people, and always keep not only me, but the entire convent safe!" Deciding walking would no longer be possible with her teary eyes, she walked off the road and sat in the grass of a small hill.

Not wanting to feel weak or helpless, she pulled her knees up to her chest and wove her arms around them. Now he really felt like his heart was being crushed, the palm of his hands hurt, and his stomach felt like it was being kneaded like bread. Cautiously he walked over and sat down next to Rosette, unsure of what to say to her.

"Rosette… did you mean what you said?"

"Don't be stupid, you know I don't say anything unless I mean it."

Backing off a little at her snippiness, he smacked his forehead, of course she said only what she meant. "I'm sorry Rosette, I should know that by now."

"You do know, you just forget sometimes."

He chuckled, "I guess I do," a small blush crept onto his cheeks, this would be a good time to wrap his arms around her. The question was, should he do it? Did he have the right to do so? His arms didn't give him a choice, slowly and hesitantly, they wrapped around Rosette's waist, but instead of pulling away, she cuddled into his embrace. This was farther than he ever expected to be able to go with Rosette. This one small fact made Chrno's heart leap into heaven.

"Chrno?"

"Yes, Rosette?"

"No more guilt trips for at least two months ok? I hate to see you so broken, and I don't think I could handle another breakdown for a while." Her honesty spoke loudly for him.

"Ok, I can do that for you, Rosette." A serene smile spread across his lips. The two of them sat contently on the hillside, cuddling as they watched the sky.

"It's gonna be dark soon, should we continue our way towards town?"

For a moment Chrno sniffed the air, "I don't smell anything threatening around, and it seems as if town is really close now. What do you think?"

"Do you smell food?"

"Lots, maybe a celebration is going on."

"…" wrong thing to say on Chrno's part.

"Rosette?"

"FO-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-D!" grabbing onto the collar of Chrno's jacket, she jumped up and ran for town.

By the time the pair had reached town, the sun had started to set. Chrno had been right, there was a festival going on. Rosette quickly threw herself into the festivities, playing games and buying food. The violet haired devil was one-step behind her the whole time. Watching out for her and making sure she never fell. It wasn't an altogether hard job, Rosette was pretty graceful for how reckless she was prone to be.

After some time, the blond nuns' energy began to die down. Therefore, instead of run around all night, they sat down to watch a play. The play itself wasn't very interesting, something about a warrior killing a King to get the role himself. Before even a quarter of it was over, Rosette and Chrno peeled themselves away from the mass of bodies.

Not so far off in the distance, was a lake where people were lighting off fireworks. Smiling, they made their way there, fortunately finding a phone on the way. Phoning the order wasn't the top thing to do on her list, but it would be a good idea to tell Sister Kate that a devil had destroyed their ride. Of course, the dear Sister was not very happy, but told the two she would have someone there in the morning to give them a ride.

"I wasn't expecting that to be so easy," admitted the devil.

"Maybe she was in a good mood." Suggested his contractor.

"No, I think it's because she knows you didn't do it intentionally." Chrno insisted.

"Well in any case, let's go watch the fireworks, we're not in trouble so let's enjoy the moment." Agreeing wholeheartedly, the two quickly ran towards the lake, and sat at its' shores.

Colorful sparks of light lit the sky. Blue, red, green, yellow, orange and gold, one would shoot up, explode in a shower of sparks, and quickly fade into smoke. The beautiful colors in the sky lightly lit up the pairs faces in a multitude of colors. All of Rosette's focus was on the sky, Chrno's focus, on Rosette's face. A warm smile spread across his lips. Small, but warm.

Once the feeling of someone staring at her got the better of the young nun, she looked over to see Chrno smiling. Not just smiling, smiling at her, like watching her made him happy. Awkwardly she smiled back, and when he realized that she was looking at him, he quickly averted his gaze.

For reasons unknown to her, his reaction confused her. Blinking, she looked at her long time best friend. Her hands acted of their own accord, grabbing Chrno's face lightly in her hands. Hesitantly, he looked at her, blood rushing to his face. Blood began rushing to Rosette's face as well, why was she doing this? Their eyes met, the expression hidden deep in the depths of each others eyes kept them from looking away.

"Why do you keep looking at me like that?" her voice was not harsh, it was a gentle question.

"I can't tell you that, Rosette." His expression saddened.

"Chrno, I'm your best friend, you can tell me anything." The warmth from Chrno's face warmed her slightly cold fingers.

Despite the warmth in her hands, and the coolness of her fingers, his expression saddened. He couldn't say anything. There was nothing to say. How could you tell someone you loved them when they were your best friend? That's all she ever would be to him. No, that's all he ever would be to her.

Being together wasn't possible, and that tore his heart to pieces.

The sadness that came off her partner in waves worried her. What had she said to elicit this kind of response?

"Chrno, Chrno! What's wrong, why are you so sad?"

Before he said anything, he sighed, "Rosette, I know it doesn't make sense. I know you're my best friend, but I just can't tell you."

With a stab of pain in his heart, he remembered his own thoughts the previous night when Rosette had been so… scared. This was why he couldn't tell her. When she gave him a confused look, he knew it was for the best. He couldn't exist without her, and he couldn't live with her feeling awkward around him. Had she known his feelings, he knew that she couldn't return them.

Her heart belonged to her little brother, Joshua.

At the same time Chrno was coming to terms with his morbid thoughts, Rosette was reminded of something Carmen had said to her. Chrno would do everything in his power to hide from her what would cause her pain. Was what he was hiding from her something painful? This thought bothered her more than anything else did. Why couldn't he see that trying to protect her from something just makes it worse?

"Stop it with this protecting me crap, Chrno!" with her harsh words, Chrno snapped to attention.

The small devil was taken aback by her words, "Rosette…"

"Don't start with me Chrno," she said, keeping his face firmly in her hands, "I want to know what's bothering you so much! Stop trying to protect me from things you think will hurt me!"

Biting his lip, he knew he had to say something to fight back, "why should I stop trying to protect you? Isn't that what friends do? Protect each other?"

"Protect them yes, try to hide them from the evils of the world, no. You gotta let me experience some kind of pain Chrno, whether you think I can handle it or not." Breathing in deeply, she continued, "I know life hasn't been fair to you, and it hasn't been fair to me. Nevertheless, Chrno, trying to shield me from every pain out there isn't helping me." She looked warmly into his eyes, smiling, "Chrno when you're in pain, I'm in pain, and no matter how much you try to protect me, there's always some pain I feel, whether you know it or not."

At this, Chrno's mouth fell slightly agape. Averting his eyes downwards, he felt ashamed. He hadn't been helping her at all? No matter what he did, he caused her pain? All this time, he thought he'd been helping her. Depression threatened to take him under, but he refused to let it happen.

"Please, tell me, what's wrong, what happened that's making you so sad?" her right hand began to softly caress his cheek.

Tears welled up in Chrno's eyes, spilling over the brims in large pools, "I'm so sorry Rosette, I thought I was helping you… I didn't want you to have to feel any more pain after losing Joshua. He's all you can really think about, so I just wanted to save you from the other pains this world creates."

"Chrno, you idiot, do you think that's what I want?"

"You don't deserve to feel pain…"

"How will I get stronger if I don't feel the pain that I should feel? I realize you want to protect me, just as I want to protect you, but seriously, you gotta let me feel what I need to feel. Even if I'm to fall into a depression or something, I know you'll bring me back. So stop trying to protect me, be the Chrno that I've known for all these years. Be honest and tell me what you're trying to protect me from." A great pain shot through her chest when she saw the deep ancient sadness in his eyes.

"I've been trying to protect you from myself." This, the nun had not been expecting.

"What do you mean?" before there was time to answer, the grand finale began over the lake.

Giving him one more serious look, she let her hands fall to her side. Breathing deeply, he gave her a small smile. After that, both turned towards the lake, watching the fireworks go off in rapid succession. Though their conversation had been interrupted, it was long from over, and far from forgotten. However, as the bright works of art burst in the air, they allowed themselves to get lost in the scene.

Having no money to rent a hotel room was troublesome. Moreover, there was no shelter to sleep under, and it left Chrno and Rosette in a pickle.

"Should we just find a huge tree and sleep up in it?" questioned the blond haired nun, whom by now was growing quite tired.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea, you tend to fidget when you sleep, you might fall down."

"You'd be there to catch me though, so what's there to worry about?"

"Why not just sleep under the tree?"

For a moment she pondered this, "ok then," Rosette answered with a smile, "under the tree it is."

It was a perfect night to sleep under a tree, regardless if there was a blanket to lie on. Both Rosette and Chrno were pelted with memories of days spent much like how they were now. Lying down under the giant maple tree, Joshua talking excitedly about the future, those were happier times. At that time, Rosette's only wish was to become a doctor to help her sickly brother.

She never got the chance.

Both pushed that thought away, who wanted to think about Aion when it was so peaceful in the night air?

"You broke your promise, Chrno." Rosette said out of nowhere.

"What do you mean? Which promise?"

"You promised, no more break downs for at least two months."

That had been earlier that day, how could he have forgotten that? "Crap! I didn't mean too! I'm sorry Rosette—I didn't remember… I wasn't thinking—"

With a small laugh, Rosette cut him off, "Chrno, its' ok. Besides, it looked like you needed to get something off your chest." She said no more than that.

At this, Chrno laughed lightly, "thanks Rosette." With such simple words, how could he make Rosette's heart flutter?

Now in comfortable silence, the two slept under the old tree, the night sky covering them in a blanket of stars.

The next morning…

"Thank GOD we're finally away from the convent! I thought I'd seriously have to kill the Elder!" cried Carmen, as she and Vincent climbed out of the car.

Vincent stumbled to the ground, bowing and kissing the dirt, "thank you God for saving me from a painful death!"

BAM!

"Stop being so dramatic Vincent!" giving each other a glance, Rosette and Chrno busted out laughing.

"What's so funny?" barked Vincent.

"That's—exactly… how we are!" croaked out Rosette.

For a moment, the two were silent, Rosette and Chrno's laughter the only noise. "Yeah well… your toe is on fire." Mumbled Carmen.

"I'm sorry, but that doesn't make any sense." Laughed Chrno, wiping tears from his eyes.

"You're just jealous of my mad driving skills." Huffed the green haired devil.

"Sure we are Carmen, sure we are. Let's get going, we need to get that devil in Rhode Island, then we need to get some food. I'm hungry!"

Groaning, Chrno and Rosette stood up. All four filing into the car, Rosette drove off. When wasn't the nun not hungry? One had to admit though both Carmen and Rosette had mad driving skills.

DK: I know, I know, just some pointless rambling.

S: I'll say.

C: It wasn't pointless, it was pivotal to her plotline… right?

DK: That's exactly right Chrno, thank you very much.

R: Whatever, I still have the better driving skills.

Carmen: Yeah right, I drive so much better than you, and I don't wreck the vehicle!

(Rosette and Carmen begin a glaring contest)

V: God, both of them are such idiots.

R & Carmen: No we're not!

S: Vhatever you say Sister of Destruction.

R: Grrr… shut up you dumb Dora!

S: Vhat did you call me, you country bumpkin?

C: (ignoring…) so what's the next chapter?

DK: that's easy! We get back down to business and start dealing with Zuberi and Isis.

SK: We?

ER: What do you mean by we?

DK: Who knows, I may put myself in as a guest star! You know, a random person running across our heroes path, crying about how pancakes are trying to eat her…

Everyone: (silence)

DK: Someone needs her medicine today!!!!

Everyone: ….

DK: I'm gonna go scar someone for life! Later!!!

C: I pray for the people who read the next chapter once it's up…

R: I'm looking forward to it, I want to see D.K.Chan run screaming from pancakes! Maybe I can eat them!

DK: Later people!


	5. Relentless Devils

_DK: Wow, that was an interesting sub-chapter, now wasn't it?_

_Carmen: Interesting? Interesting?! I HAD TO ENDURE THE TORTURE OF THE ELDER AND SISTER KATE! HOW COULD THAT BE INTERESTING!?_

_DK: Well, it's not like we actually got to read what happened to you._

_V: As well the public should NOT know, they may run away disgusted._

_DK: Oh c'mon! It's just the Elder and Sister Kate! Everyone knows how Elder is, and Sister Kate, dear God, she's not THAT scary._

_R: I beg to differ!_

_C: ~looks from Rosette to Sister Kate~ If you cross her she can be..._

_R: ~hits Chrno upside the head~ Shut it, you're supposed to be on my side._

_SK: Enough being disrespectful, Sister Rosette._

_Everyone: SISTER KATE IS STANDING UP FOR CHRNO!?!?_

_SK: Do not make a big deal about it, I shall protect everyone here at the order._

_DK: Does that mean you will protect me from the fanboys?_

_SK: ~confused~_

_DK: Never mind then, on with the chapter!_

_V: About damn time!_

_Carmen: ~hits Vincent upside the head~ Be nice! Continue D.._

_DK: Thank, as I said, on with the chapter!_

**To Give the Gift of Life**

**Chapter Four: Relentless Devils**

It was madness. That's what it was. Complete and utter madness.

"This has been the eighteenth devil attack this morning. By tomorrow we'll have every single militia member, exorcist, and even back up from other Order's out on a mission. Remington, this is not good."

"Calm down, the reports have to stop coming in at some time or another." Poor, delusional, optimistic Ewan, he was in for a rude awakening.

Taking a deep breath, and pulling my ear from the door, Carmen quickly knocked on the dark wooded door. "Sister Kate, I have more reports."

A moment later, she heard a loud bang, and what sounded like pencils in a pencil jar shaking slightly. "Enter." said a wary Sister Kate.

"Cheer up, there's not many! Only nine this time!" said the green haired devil with some cheer as she opened the door. This caused the young Abbess to bang her head once more.

Poor woman, she was being crushed under all this pressure. "What are we going to do? We don't have enough members to fend off all these attacks!"

Biting her lip, she gazed at Ewan. His gaze met hers, and he nodded his head. "Perhaps it is time we discuss this 'prophecy' in more detail."

Sister Kate looked at him warily, "what else is there I need to know, Ewan?"

-----Rosette, Chrno, Azmaria and Vincent-----

"You seem to have recovered nicely." Stated Az cheerily, as she changed the bandage on Chrno's abdomen. Weeks had passed since Zuberi had speared his stomach, but it was still healing.

"It seems that way." the violet haired devil said with a smile.

"Grr, I can't believe all those devils have the nerve to attack this city!" Rosette growled angrily.

Chrno gave a worried glance towards the entrance to the Order, "perhaps they thought since we had to go to another state, this place would be left defenseless."

"What would that matter?! We're here now!" Chrno knew it wasn't just the arrogance of the devils, Rosette wanted to be fighting them, she wanted information.

"You think Aion sent them?" Azmaria offered.

"That's exactly what I think. While we were off doing our job in Rhode Island, Aion sent devils here to destroy the city." Rosette yelled, her foot up on a chair and her fist in the air.

"That wouldn't make sense though, if you think about it." Vincent entered, "if you've read the reports, the devils are scattered. They aren't targeting anything specific. If it was Aion who had sent them, they would be targeting one thing, wouldn't they?"

"It's likely, but with Aion, you never know. He's a strategist, he'll find a way to stump you until the last possible moment." Chrno bit his thumb in thought, was this Aion's doing? Or simply arrogant devils who thought they could bring about the destruction of New York?

"I don't care who it is, if they have information about Joshua, we will get it. If they don't, we'll still beat the snot out of all of them!" cried Rosette, standing boldly, her fists in the ready.

"Speaking of beating the snot out of something, why aren't you two out there now? Far as I know, the Order will need every single hand they can get out on the field." This was true, everyone except Rosette had to agree with Vincent on that, but Sister Kate had her reasons.

At the mention of every hand being needed, Rosette crossed her arms and plopped down on the ground, "Sister Kate told me, 'you just got back from your mission. You will rest.'" she repeated lamely, "Rest, I don't need!" she grumbled, "we need to get out there and help!"

"I'm sure she'll have us out there soon. She probably wants to wait until Chrno's stomach wound heals up entirely." Interrupted Azmaria. This was probably true. The mission to Rhode Island had aggravated the crimson eyed devils wound.

Sighing, Chrno averted his eyes towards his hands. Even when he was trying to help, he was a hindrance. "I'm sorry Rosette, if it weren't for me, we'd be out there now."

Her fist came down hard on his skull causing him to fall sideways, confused as he always was when she hit him upside the head, "don't even say that Chrno! If it weren't for you, I'd be in the ground with a hole in my stomach!" she growled out at Chrno.

He lifted his hellish crimson gaze toward her fiery ocean eyes. Instantly, his eyes softened and he nodded, "right." there was no way he was about to fight with her, after all, he knew she was right in some sense.

Had he not blocked it, she would have died from a stomach wound like that. Chrno thanked God once again that he was able to keep her safe. Physically, he could protect her, but sometimes that wasn't the devil's main concern. Mentally, he wasn't sure he was enough to help. Her brother is what was closest to her heart, Chrno was merely second, nothing at all like what always came first. If that even. Chrno wasn't sure, with Rosette, it was so hard to tell sometimes.

His heart contracted slightly, he couldn't think that way. Rosette must feel stronger for Chrno than what was thought, the small devil had to know that. For one, when he kissed her, she hadn't responded, but she didn't try to escape either. This internal debate with his mind was going nowhere. Did Rosette feel the same for him as he did her? Chrno didn't know as of this point, but that couldn't be his main concern right now. Joshua! They have to find him. _Offer up a suggestion, keep her spirits up, Chrno! _Chrno mentally yelled at himself.

"In any case, these devil attacks don't feel like they have 'Aion' written on them. I think someone else may have sent them." Perhaps the two Egyptian devils they had encountered.

"Like who?" Rosette asked Chrno with a glare.

Might as well offer up his suspicions, "Zuberi and Isis, I think they pointed all those devils to the city. My guess is, they are trying to weaken the defenses here, that way they can get in and have at some revenge." after a moment, "or they could be after the weapons we used against them. They may not know exactly where they are, but with the Order practically empty, it wouldn't be hard to take out any security and search the entire grounds."

"Most of our weapons have little to no effect on them unless they are extremely weak. Why would they go after that?" Questioned Azmaria.

"Who knows. In any case, it would leave the Order far more than defenseless. We'd be downright sitting ducks without weapons, whether they do much damage to them or not." Entered Vincent.

"Hey!" Everyone turned towards the voice in the distance. Carmen was running towards the group of devils and humans. "Guys, I may need your help. These reports keep coming in, and I can't keep up with them all!"

"What the hell are you talking about? You have both your horns! Use the force, Carmen!"

Said devil hit Vincent upside the head, "I was trying to give Kate a reason to relax by only taking in so many reports every hour, but I can't put it off any longer! There's at least ten columns of fifty reports or more. I need your guys' help to take them to her, and perhaps a few others to keep Sister Kate from spontaneously combusting."

"How did five hundred reports end up piling up!?" Cried Vincent, his face incredulous.

"I told you, I was trying to give Sister Kate a reason to relax, you know, only so many reports every hour. But the situation has sky rocketed, and when I say sky, I mean its past the universe point." Everyone seemed to look at one another with a worried glance.

"Let's get in there now and see what we can do to help." Everyone's eyes flashed to Rosette, she shrugged, got up and walked towards Sister Kate's office.

"Rosette, can you help carry the reports? Azmaria can go warn Sister Kate of our arrival." With a slightly annoyed nod, Rosette followed Carmen and the rest of the group while Azmaria ran towards Sister Kate's office.

-----Ewan and Kate-----

"This will go about as well as a car in a building on fire. She's going to be angry, and she's going to reject the idea." Bringing her index and middle fingers to her temples, Kate promptly began to rub in loose soothing circles.

"Of course she will be angry, this is something a young woman like her should never have to go through. Not only will she be forced into motherhood, years before she is ready, but she also has to choose between losing a friends life, or a chance of losing her own." Ewan said calmly.

"We all know what she'll say, there is no way she'll let a friend die. She'll walk right into whatever trap to save a friend." Kate shook her head, "that girl is a lot more selfless than I give her credit for."

"She is a lot of things more than we give her credit for, but that's how it is. If she had the means to, she would rid this entire world of evil and make sure no woman, child or man went hungry. She has a big heart, and I am afraid that big heart may be what causes her the most pain."

There was a small gasp behind the office door, "come in, Azmaria." the little albino girl stepped through the door, her eyes wide and filled with fear. "what's wrong, Azmaria?"

"Is it true, about Rosette, will she really be forced into all those things?" both adults gave her a blank look, hadn't she given everyone those visions?

Kate almost smacked herself on the forehead, of course she did, but right after, she passed out and forgot everything. Everyone had forgotten what they had seen, except for Ewan and Kate. Everyone forgot, but the feelings everyone got from those visions remained. It had caused so much confusion for everyone, to feel one way and not know the reason why, Ewan felt bad for them all.

"I'm afraid so, Azmaria, I do not wish for any of this to pass, but not only is it prophesized, but... I can already see it would happen regardless. I may not like it, but at the same time, it would be the greatest thing to happen in this Order." The abbess sighed, when she first met Chrno, she had immediately labeled him as trouble.

Turns out, she should have been more worried about Rosette.

"God has chosen them both, I don't think we'll come out of this with a sad ending. Though it may not seem likely, I think the Lord will bless them both. Rosette will make it out of this alive, and most likely with more health and vigor than ever before." Ewan gave a small chuckle when Kate slammed her head on the desk once more.

"Great, Rosette ten times worse, will this Order survive?"

"Uh, Sister Kate, if this Order can survive five hundred more reports, I don't think Rosette will be a problem." picking up her head, the abbess stared at the albino girl as she fidgeted and played with her fingers.

Once more, Kate's forehead slammed into the dark wood of my desk, "just bring them all in, don't bother keeping them from me. Bring them all, and whoever brings them in is to stay, I will need all the help I can get."

"Well that's new, the Invincible Sister Kate actually admitting she needs help? It must be a blessed day!" Rosette's sarcasm was what the young head nun had needed, straightening up and glaring at the girl who carried in at least fifty reports or more.

"For that comment, I shall have you work double, Sister Rosette. In any case, five hundred or more reports cannot be completed by one person in the time allotted to us. Vincent, I would like you to find a few members for me." The blue haired devil stepped forth through the door, carrying at least twice as many as Rosette.

"Who do you need me to find?"

"Anna, Mary, Claire, Jennifer, Alistair, Johnson, James, and Damien." Setting the files on the ground by the door, he gave the abbess a salute and rushed out the door as Chrno and Carmen came in, reports stacked above their heads.

"About three more piles to go and all of them will be in here, Sister Kate." Carmen said, with cheer in her voice.

"I understand at times like these, optimism is a great ally, but I do not need it as of this moment." Kate growled with irritation.

"Sister Kate, do you have any theories on why these devils are attacking the city like this?" the question came from Chrno, the young abbess vaguely wondered what the devils thoughts on it were.

"I believe this may be the work of those two devils that attacked the Order. I'm not sure why, but they are trying to run us defenseless."

"That's what I was thinking, but also, I'm starting to think there's more behind it."

"You may be right, if I heard correctly, Isis and Zuberi are Egyptian devils. Devils who have been confined and sealed within tombs hundreds of years ago. They are devils who can easily regenerate but when buried beneath ancient Egyptian grounds, can no longer do so. If they're here now, they had to have had help." Entered Carmen.

"So you think maybe Aion dug them up?" Rosette questioned.

"That would make sense, but why would Aion need their help? What would be his purpose in bringing them into this battle?" asked the head nun.

"For any number of reasons. Perhaps he knows there is a greater chance of his defeat if he does not enlist at least a little help." Suggested Ewan.

Chrno shook his head, his thumb and forefinger under his chin, "no, I don't think that's it. He knows me well enough to be able to cut through my defenses, unless I'm in my true form. Even then, I believe there's a reason he helped those two, if he is behind their appearance. Besides, he knows the fastest way to get to me, capture anyone here, and I'm forced to concede." by then, he was biting his thumb.

"So, if that were true, what would be the reason for bringing in two Egyptian devils?" That was a question, what was their purpose in all of this mess?

Ewan leaned against the window sill, "I don't know, but I do know we all have a few things to discuss once you have sent the exorcists out on their missions, Sister Kate."

Warily, she looked up at him, "indeed we do. We all do." Then she sighed.

"What do you mean we have a few things to discuss? Am I getting in trouble for something?" Rosette looked at Kate with a grimace.

Ewan and Kate exchanged glances, "you could say that, Sister Rosette, though it's not so much you did something, it's more... something you will eventually do."

Everyone gave the abbess a blank look, blinking many times as if trying to clear their brain. At that moment, Vincent came back with the exorcists Kate had requested.

"What did you need of us, Sister Kate?" questioned James, an older man, and a General within the militia.

"Thank you for coming as quickly as you did. I need you to organize points around the order, at these points one in the group will stand and keep watch for devils. I don't know why all of them have decided to attack now, but we will be useless if the order is destroyed. We may be pressing our luck by running our defenses so thin, but at this point, it's all we can do." Having given the orders, the group nodded and ran out the door, James shouting orders as they disappeared.

Straightening up, Ewan frowned, "alright then, since that's taken care of, we should begin discussing what you all need to know."

"What are you talking about, Minister?"

"Ewan, care to begin?" sighing, he stared out the window.

"Since when do you call him by his first name?" Rosette question, everyone ignored the question, and waited for Ewan to begin.

"The Lord has decided to tell us of another prophecy, one that had been given to a prophet in secret, one that no one knows about." He began.

"What are you talking about?" Rosette questioned, impatient.

Ewan sighed again, sadly gazing at Rosette, "the key to getting through this all is you, Rosette."

"Me?" she asked incredually, her eyes widening.

"More specifically, the child you will bare."

"Me? Child?" A hysterical laugh escaped her, "what are you talking about? I'm a sister, I'm celibate, Minister!" Azmaria and Chrno both nodded, seemingly confused.

"This is true, you are a sister, but when the time comes, you will have a child."

"You mean like adopting a child, right?" she suggested, her mind resisting the thought of motherhood.

"No, you will become pregnant, and you will bare a child, born from light, and dark."

"What are you saying?" Chrno asked, something in his voice sounded frightened, and his hands trembled.

"Dark? You don't mean..." the name stopped in her throat, but after swallowing, she uttered it raggedly, "Aion?"

Kate shook her head, "no, Sister Rosette, allow me to recite a part of the prophecy," clearing her throat, Kate began to recite what she had read, "…the darkness of despair has been born from those who are worshippers of devil, and the light of hope has been born from those that are worshippers of God. Through one that is supposed to be so evil, and one that is so pure, a child bathed in light shall be born. In the palm of thy hand, light shall form, and be the ultimate weapon of God against the Devil.

"Sister Rosette, you remember my opinion of Chrno when you first arrived here, do you not?" she questioned, seeing the knowledge and understanding flash within her eyes.

"You hated him, you said no matter what form he took he was evil, 'he's a devil, he's supposed to be evil.' So you're saying Chrno and I..." the words slowly lost volume.

Chrno chuckled in a sort of hurt, nervous way, "that can't be right, you must have acquired a phony prophecy. There's no way God would allow such a thing to happen." He said, Kate didn't know if anyone else could sense it, but the pain in his voice was obvious, "even if that were the case, Rosette and I are best friends, nothing more."

Kate and Ewan watched as Rosette looked down at Chrno, frowning, her eyes seemed to glaze over for a moment before she shook her head. Her eyes averted towards Kate, her gaze questioning and fearful, begging her to say none of this way true.

This confused the abbess as much as this information had upset them. The ties between Rosette and Chrno are very strong, she wouldn't know what to call Rosette's feelings toward Chrno, but she definitely knew that Chrno loved Rosette, Kate could see it in his eyes after the first time he almost transformed on the front lawn of the Order.

"Is that all it is?" Ewan questioned.

Chrno's hands tightened into fists at his side, "of course that's all it is. God couldn't really find the solution in the child born from a devil and a servant of God, it doesn't make sense."

"It does make sense," Carmen protested, "God does not discriminate against those who wish to be saved, be they human or devil! As long as they shout the Lord's name and repent for their sins, God will save them, and when their life has ended, He will allow them into the heavens. You wouldn't be here now, if you thought otherwise, Chrno, you too Rosette. Both of you know if you are faithful, the Lord will guide you." She glared at them both, "that's what you believe, right? Right!"

Everyone was silent for a time. Chrno's face went from pained to expressionless. He was absolutely blank. Rosette went from being afraid to being calm, which was rare in itself in normal situations for Rosette. Ewan intently watched Rosette as she seemed to go over things in her head. She had already been dealing with how she felt towards Chrno, Mary had told them that much, but Chrno must think that the only truly important person in Rosette's life was her brother.

In that moment, Ewan understood Chrno's sudden blankness, "Chrno, it would be wise for you to stop cutting off your emotions. You may be a devil and better able to cope with stress, but keeping everything bottled inside will do you no good."

Everyone looked at Chrno with sympathetic eyes, none more so than Rosette, who gazed at him with love, worry and a kind of respect and admiration mixed in her eyes.

Chrno's blank look dropped a little, and he smiled sadly, "I know," he said aloud, "but I'm absolutely fine, I'm not hiding my emotions." He lied boldly, "I think I'll go help Father James, it seems that I won't be of much use here." With another smile he left, he willingly left Rosette's side.

Rosette frowned, watching as Chrno walked erect out the door.

The whole room seemed shocked that Chrno had done what he had just done. Even Carmen and Vincent, who haven't known the two nearly as long as the rest, seemed shell shocked.

The first to speak was Rosette, which almost shocked everyone just as much, "well, there's nothing we can do at the moment about him, let's get these reports finished." Everyone turned towards her and blinked.

Kate had known that this news would be hard for the two, given the fact that so much information had already been given to them. Yet, she hadn't thought either would take it like this.

"Lord, please help them through," whispered the abbess under her breath as Ewan handed out reports and began explaining what to do.

-----Chrno-----

As soon as Chrno reached the entrance to the convent, he hide behind the door and fell to his knees. One hand clutched his heart, while the other held his wavering balance. Besides getting Joshua back, having a chance to actually be with Rosette was all that I wanted, but he didn't deserve to want anything. With Carmen and Vincent's help, Rosette would have her life back, and the devil would probably be left to sleep in Mary's grave once more.

No, Chrno knew Rosette may not love him as he loved, but there would be no way she would just let him leave either.

That line of thinking eased some of the pain the devil felt in his heart, but still did nothing to erase it. Whoever had given that prophecy to Sister Kate had to be cruel.

It had to be Aion.

Who else would know what the devil wanted more than anything in the world? Who else could be so maniacal as to play God and write down something such as that. It had to be Aion, it just had to be. There was no way God would want one of His holy daughter's with a devil, whether that devil tried to serve Him or not.

Struggling to his feet, Chrno settled himself, placing the mask he so often wore around everyone in the Order. Right now he had to be determined to help, prophecy or no prophecy. A whole in his stomach or no. Closing his eyes, he sought out James and found him at the gates. Pushing open the big oriental doors, Chrno sprinted to his side.

"Chrno, what are you doing here?" questioned the General, surprised.

After catching his breath, the small devil straightened up and gave him a determined look, "I think I'll be more help out here. I'll be able to tell which directions devils will be coming from."

James didn't question it, "thanks Chrno, we'll need as much help as we can get."

"He-e-e-e-ey! You better not forget to include the greatest markswoman this place has ever seen!" Chrno gasped and turned around the same times as James did.

"Sister Rosette, you too?" James asked.

"Sister Kate kind of kicked me out after I did the third report wrong," she chuckled, swiping her nose with her thumb, "I guess I'm not much of a wit person." She grinned down at her devil companion, something that annoyed him once in a while. The devil hated being so much shorter than her.

"Alright then, you'll stay here with me and Chrno at the front gate." Having said that, he handed the devil his communicator, "Chrno, you will give everyone their coordinates," he then explained where everyone had been situated.

"That should be good for now," Chrno mumbled lightly, "everyone hold your positions, I can feel multiple devils on the move towards us now, but I can't pinpoint where exactly they'll come from."

"Where do you want me exactly, General, Chief?" Rosette grinned, cocking the barrel of her gun.

"Chief?" Chrno asked at the same time James told her to follow the devil's instructions.

"Yeah, you're in charge Chrno, since you can strategize so well." again she grinned at him, a grin the devil couldn't help but return. However, their grins quickly faded and grew serious.

Closing his eyes, Chrno spread my senses as far as they could go. Five devils coming from the west, two coming from the north, seven coming from the east, at least twenty coming from the south. Perfect, the gate of the convent was facing south, that meant Rosette, James and the small devil would get the worst of it.

Grabbing the communicator mouth piece and making sure it would be able to give the directions clearly, Chrno barked out positions. "Anna move about twenty paces northwest, Damien and Alistair, move five paces in that same direction. Claire you'll want to move ten paces southeast, Jennifer, four paces east, Alistair, seven paces south, Johnson, seven paces north. Each of you shouldn't be faced with more than seven devils."

All replied 'roger' as he turned to Rosette and James. "We'll get the worst of it here, twenty devils in the least."

As was Rosette, she grinned, "twenty devils, huh? No problem." Having said that, the three spread out in front of the gate, James and Rosette readying their guns, Chrno readying his sword.

"How much time do we have before they arrive?" James asked.

Chrno glared at the sky, "now, everyone look towards the sky!"

"I see them!" Anna exclaimed.

"Hold your fire, the bullet won't make it from such a far distance." Everyone yelled another 'roger' and waited for the command. The devils closed the distance quickly, and it wasn't long before the devil shouted the command, "fire!" Gunshots rang out in every direction, to the right and left Rosette and James fired as well, hitting their targets with marked precision. Three devils swooped down towards the crimson eyed devil, and after adjusting to moving with his sword once more, said devil easily dispatched them.

The first wave of devils was nothing, but everyone knew there'd be more. "Reload your weapons, everyone, that was only one wave, more will be coming." Once again everyone replied 'roger' and awaited their next instructions.

Having prepared them for wave after wave, Chrno sent James and Rosette around with refills of cartridges. Both returned within five minutes, and after they caught their breath, they took out the devils that didn't give them the chance to breath. After about the twelfth wave, Chrno sensed a much larger group coming.

"Everyone be on your guard! The number of devils have tripled on each side!"

There was a collective yelling of, "what?"

"Set up the barriers, and wait for my signal to fire!" Everyone did as instructed without hesitation, which gave the devil a sense of warmth and began to think they might pull this off without casualties. The optimism he began to feel, drained when at the back of the largest wave, he sensed Zuberi and Isis. "Rosette, go get Sister Kate and everyone else! The two Egyptian devils are back!"

"You mean the two that destroyed the convent a month and a half ago?" yelled Claire.

"Go!" Rosette nodded and ran, pushing her legs faster than she had ever pushed them before. When she returned, Vincent was loaded down with weapons, Carmen carried boxes and boxes of extra clips, weapons and ammunition, Ewan carried more weapons and clips, Sister Kate carried as much as Vincent did in ammunition, Azmaria was as loaded as she could be with weapons. "Sister Kate, Father Remington, please go around and assist the others, get them loaded with as much ammunition as you can allow. Vincent, Carmen, Azmaria, you three stay here, we'll have to deal with Isis and Zuberi."

Everyone quickly nodded and did as instructed. Walking over to Rosette who was loading herself with ammunition and weapons, Chrno cleared his throat, his crimson eyes intense.

"Got something special for me to do, Chief?" she grinned.

"Yes, aim perfectly." she cocked her head to the side, "now may not seem the time, but imagine these devils are your friends being possessed by a devils horn, like your brother. Use this to your advantage, hit precisely at the base of the horns."

She bit her lip but nodded, "got it."

"Azmaria, make sure you aim as accurately as you can at the base of the horns. Carmen, Vincent, how much experience do you have using guns?"

"More than you probably suspect," grinned Carmen. "Don't worry, we know what to do." As she said this, she re-holstered her guns and brought out her swords, "I'm more of a close combat kind of gal, but I'll shoot for the finish."

Vincent shook his head, "stop acting like this is some kind of bad western movie, Carmen."

Carmen glared, "you are so lucky I don't have the time to hit you right now."

"Abusive woman." he muttered.

"They're close," noted the violet haired devil, "everyone be ready. They'll be in shooting range in two minutes." A scream rang out over the communicator and then a gunshot.

"Mary!" Anna and Claire yelled.

"Hold your positions, Sister Kate or Father Remington will see to it that she's ok." Another minute and a half passed, and the time came, "fire!" Cries against the devils sounded in the air after the sacred that were fired.

Rosette steadied her arm crossing her right arm over her left for balance. Both eyes were wide open and sharp, plucking off small target after small target. Azmaria was holding her own, missing every once in a while, but hitting her targets with much accuracy. Carmen and Vincent faired about as well as Rosette in their gun usage, but true to what Carmen said, once one clip ran out, she'd go back to her swords until Vincent could reload it for her.

Charging forward at the devils as well, Chrno slashed off their horns, one by one, but the closer Isis and Zuberi got, the tougher the horns were to destroy.

"Chrno, Mary's fine over here," Sister Kate's voice finally announced, "she just got startled when I ran out of the bushes and knocked her communicator out."

"Got it, Sister Kate." Returning his focus to his targets, Chrno yelled back, "how many targets are left on each side?"

"Three left," Johnson yelled, three shots were fired, then a laugh, "make that zero."

"Done here," came Claire's voice.

"Done as well," that was Anna.

"The last one just went down," Jennifer replied.

"All of them were picked off over here," Mary said triumphantly.

"It was too easy on our end," laughed Alistair and Damien.

"Everyone return to the main gate, all the devils are converging here." There was another collective 'roger' once more and then all that could be heard were the stamping of feet against the cold ground.

"Crap, I'm out of bullets!" Rosette's cry of annoyance turned the devil's attention toward her.

That had been a mistake. Just as he had turned his attention away from his targets, three took a swipe at the poor devil. Luckily, Rosette was paying enough attention for the both of them, and tackled Chrno to the ground.

She grinned down at the crimson eyed devil, "what's wrong Chief, normally it's you whose saving my butt." Rolling to their sides, the two sat up just as the devils were coming in for another attack.

Handing her more clips both stood, Chrno charged, slashing at the horn of one of the devils, Rosette quickly changing her clip and shot off the horns of the other two.

"Momentary distraction, it won't happen again," he replied. More devils of higher ranks were just beginning to thicken when the rest of the group returned to the gate. Each one ran, picking off a devil or two on their way.

"Be on your guard, these are no weaklings!" Rosette shouted, picking off two, three more devils.

"When Isis and Zuberi come into sight, I want Rosette, Carmen, Vincent, Father Remington, Sister Kate and Azmaria to concentrate on only them. The rest of you keep the other devils off of us, we'll be sitting ducks if we can't move freely." Chrno ordered, everyone nodded, Sister Kate and Father Remington not questioning the fact that a devil was giving orders.

"I see them, Chrno!" Carmen shouted, her twin blades poised.

Rosette gasped, "the female, she looks... different." Chrno followed her gaze and realized she was right.

"This doesn't smell right," Carmen stated, glaring into the sky, "something about this whole situation just isn't right."

"Of course it doesn't smell right," Rosette stated, "this whole place reeks of blood."

"No, Rosette, Carmen's right, something isn't right, that female... something is different about her."

"No shit Vincent, she actually looks like a woman now." Bit out Rosette.

"It's not easy to explain," Chrno began, "but the air around her has changed. She's definitely ready to attack and defend her brother, but there's also an uncertainty about her." Having said what he needed to, Chrno dodged a few on-coming devils and lopped off the horns of the ones behind them.

Vincent shot of six rounds, replaced his clip quickly, and shot off another three rounds, all nine hitting and destroying their target. "Carmen, go in for a close combat with the female, find out why she is different from before."

A grin lit Carmen's face and she dropped the ammunition she had covering her body, "you read my mind, Vincent, my man!" This caused the little devil to flush, "one devil on devil close combat fight, coming right up." With that, she charged forward, the rest of the ground left standing their ground, blasting the devils in her way to allow her a path.

"Come at me Lady, me and you are going to continue our little dance from before." Carmen cackled crazily as she shot forward.

Had they the time, Chrno was sure at least half the group would have stared openly at Carmen. She was an oddity. Clearing his head of the thought, the violet haired devil charged at a strangely weak devil within the group and destroyed its horn. As he did so, Zuberi came up behind the decaying devils body. Using the momentum from the last attack, the small devil dived forward and rolled under Zuberi, his claws just barely missing his violet covered head.

A grin spread across his face as he went straight for Rosette. Horror crept through Chrno's system, but it had been unneeded. Sensing danger at her side, she ducked out of the way and aimed for his horns. The sacred was spot on, but it did little but annoy him. Swiping at her, he left his side open. Chrno quickly took the advantage and swiped at him, grazing his side and splitting his attention between the two of them.

Vincent, Remington, Sister Kate, Azmaria and James were quick to join in once Zuberi's attention had been split. Seven against one probably wouldn't have seemed fair, but with as powerful as he was, it was all the order members could do not to get swamped.

"My love, be careful!" Isis yelled to him, warning him.

"Lady, that is really sick to have your brother as your lover." Carmen gagged as she created her spear once more and swiped at Isis.

Isis growled, "how dare you! Zuberi is not my brother! I would never love a brother in such as way as I love him!" Irate, she charged at Carmen, jumping over Carmen's spear and kicking her in the back, sending her staggering forward.

That was the last the small group were able to pay attention to before they had to return their full attention to Zuberi.

-----Carmen-----

As the green haired devil staggered forward, she leaned into it and landed on her hands, pushing her lithe body over and back. Once back on her feet, she swiftly turned and rolled away from Isis' attack.

"What are you? Schitzo or something? A month and a half ago, you called him your brother, now he's your lover and not at all your brother?" Isis had charged at her again, but as she brought down her sword towards Carmen's shoulder, it slowed, giving Carmen more than enough time to move.

"I said what?" her eyes held disbelief, her attacks held no power behind them, though she still attacked. Shaking her head, she was back in the fight, but not for the kill, "what could you know? I've never seen you before."

Carmen narrowed her eyes, "what did he do to you? You are the same devil that attacked the month before, yet you are the exact opposite of her. How could you not remember my little dance before with you and your brother?"

"I told you!" she yelled, bringing her sword down again with no power, "he is not my brother, he is my lover!"

"Then tell me what's going on!" Carmen screamed, dodging the attack and jabbing her spear at Isis, who easily dodged.

Golden amber eyes closed, and a ball of energy formed in the devils hands, "if what you say is true," she said calmly, "then I can't say for sure what's going on." The ball grew larger, Carmen attacked, trying to dislodge the ball, but missing.

"What _can_ you tell me?" Carmen yelled, irritated as she dodged the ball of energy as it was hurled at her.

A moment later, Isis opened her eyes, and as she did, Carmen gasped, "what color are my eyes now, she-devil? What were they a moment ago?"

Carmen watched in bewilderment as the amber color drained from the females eyes, only to be replaced by a glowing feral orange. Though dark as it was, Carmen could also see that the roots of the females hair becoming darker.

"What on earth is happening to you?" Carmen gasped, charging half-heartedly at her opponent.

"I've regained my freedom of choice," Isis cried, using Carmen's spear to throw herself up and over Carmen.

"What do you mean?" Carmen whispered under her breath, twirling her spear in her hands and quickly turning her body to charge once again at Isis.

"Attack once more with your twin blades, she-devil, this will be easier to explain while our blades are locked." Reaching behind her back, Isis pulled out a short, oriental sword.

Taking the chance and separating her spear into their separate swords, she continued her charge forward, her twin blades clashing with the short sword. "Easier to explain, huh?" Carmen questioned, a grin lighting her face, "not likely since you have force behind you."

Isis cocked an eye brow, her eyes widening as a sacred shot the horn off a devil that had been creeping up to attack Carmen. "I suppose I do have force behind me, but they are not loyal to me, they are loyal to Aion."

Eyes narrowed, Carmen growled, "Aion... how is he connected to this?"

Pushing forward, Isis parried Carmen and took the chance to slash at her, their swords connecting and locking once more, "everything, he is the one who freed my lover and myself."

"So why are you telling me this? Why are you half assing our fight?" This time, Carmen pushed forward, knocking Isis off-balance for a moment, but as she quickly recovered, their blades locked once more, the screeching of metal against metal dim in their ears.

"I wanted nothing to do with Aion, I hadn't liked him from the beginning, but Zuberi is obsessed with life and freedom, when I told him I'd rather be dead than submit to Aion, he did what rattlers are best at." When Carmen cocked her eyebrow in confusion, Isis pulled backwards and struck against Carmen's blades once more, "he intoxicated me so that I would submit to him. Something he had promised to never use on me."

Pain entered the now ruby haired, feral orange eyed devil. Carmen felt for the woman, having been betrayed by her lover. Both pulled back and their blades clashed and sung once more.

"He must have been poisoning me for a while now, I don't even remember how long it has been since we've been revived." Isis laughed a bitter laugh, trying a new approach, attacking from the right, "before we had been sealed, I knew this would happen one day. I am a fool. It seems I have been helping the wrong person this whole time." For a second their blades locked, Carmen let up on her defense and allowed Isis' blade to swipe at her midsection, backing up just so it grazed her armor.

"How can I trust the information you've given me?" Carmen question harshly, doing a back flip and then crouching low and charging forward.

Easily rolling out of the way, she caught the collar of her armor on the twin blades. The fabric easily tore away, and Carmen could see on the females neck were multiple bite marks, bruised and scabbing over. It looked as if though the marks had been ripped and beaten on.

"This is your proof, she-devil." A new light entered Isis' eyes, a fire that was infuriated, "as well as my turning on my love. I do not submit to power hungry tyrants." Ignoring Carmen, she charged past her and straight for Zuberi's back, "Zuberi!"

-----Rosette-----

No matter what Rosette and the others threw at Zuberi, he seemed to be able to come back from it unscathed. Whether a Sacred or a Gospel was shot point blank in his face, it seemed to have the same effect: nothing. It was as if the devil had changed, as if he had more power.

"Why. Won't. You. Go. Down. And... stay. Down?" Vincent growled out, shooting off a round with each word.

"Fools, do you think I've been sitting around gathering devils all this time?" A malicious laugh escaped his throat as he charged at Vincent, his claws a mere inch from his face. His eyes were crazed and he spoke in a low, crackly voice, "there's nothing you fools can do to stop me, not when my love has returned to me."

Before anyone could do anything, he grabbed Vincent's face and threw him back into the gate, destroying it easily. Rosette, Chrno and Kate created a barrier between the mad devil and Vincent, giving Azmaria time to help Vincent to his feet.

"You're seriously sick if you love your sister in that way," commented Rosette, shooting off another three rounds, aiming for his horns. Each hit, but only served to anger him.

"Insolent fool," he growled, sending a wave of air pressure into Rosette's gut.

"Rosette!" Chrno called, running to her side and helping her to her feet.

Charging at Chrno and Rosette, the crazed look appeared on his face again, "manipulation is a thorn in my side, but if I had to make her believe she was anything other than just my lover I'd do it again." Wrapping his arms around Rosette's waist, he rolled them both out from under Zuberi's claws.

Jumping to their feet, Chrno charged forward, Rosette and the others tried to distract Zuberi with their sacred. Azmaria aimed at the devils around the immediate area, taking them out easily, for someone with her experience.

"Chrno, watch out!" Rosette yelled suddenly, running and diving into her partner, clearing him of Zuberi, as the female devil dove at Zuberi.

Azmaria poised her gun at Zuberi's horn, but Carmen placed her hand on the shaft, "this is her fight."

"Carmen?" Everyone questioned, giving her a confused look.

"He took away her freedom. She's pissed and is paying him back for those choices she didn't have." explained the green haired devil with a shrug.

James, Kate, Ewan and Azmaria quickly nodded and returned to picking off the other devils, easing the weight of attack from Anna and the others. Chrno, Rosette and Vincent gathered near Carmen, waiting for information.

"Explain what you mean, Carmen." Vincent demanded, angry that their target had just been taken away from them.

"Take a close look at her neck. Zuberi is a rattler devil from what I've heard, and the marks on her neck are proof of his manipulation." Eyes widening for a mere quarter second, Carmen shot into the air and slashed off the horn of a devil going for Rosette's back. "Now is not the time for talking, more are coming!"

Not sure whether to be irritated or glad for the turn of events, Vincent shot off a few rounds, growling as the lower ranked devils fell like cement blocks. It wasn't long before only a few higher ranked devils remained. Chrno crossed swords with a particularly strong devil, his sword biting the metal of the bone like spear attached to the devils arm. Rosette split his attention by shooting off her rounds, hitting the horn but having no effect.

"Che, this one isn't going down," she shot off another two rounds and ejected the clip, and as she reached for a new one, the devil ignored Chrno and shot after her.

"Your head is mine now, bitch." Rosette grinned, turning just as the devils fangs would have been at her throat. Instead of her throat, the barrel of her gun was in its place.

"I don't think my head is going anywhere," and with a cocky grin, she pulled the trigger, destroying the devils head, while Chrno slashed off the horns, the devils body immediately decaying.

"You ok, Rosette?" questioned the violet haired devil, helping his partner to her feet.

"Jake, Chrno," she told him, giving him a thumbs up and a grin, "how many more are coming this way?"

A triumphant grin lit Chrno's face, "these are the last of them, I suppose once we're done here all we can do is watch and see if Isis can overcome Zuberi."

At the mention of the two devils, both gazed at the two dueling in the air. Once everyone had finished their fights, all looked into the sky, watching as the lovers fought. They were a whole new definition to the phrase, 'lover's quarrel.' Carmen, Vincent and Chrno gazed at the two in wonder, being able to hear them yell at each other in another language confusing them.

"You think she's pissed?" Vincent asked, bored and needing something to fill the silence and lack of action.

"She was manipulated, I'm pretty sure she's pissed, Vincent." Carmen growled out, hitting Vincent over the head.

Anna was the first of the other group to ask why they were just standing and looking on, "ok, I'm glad one of the devils turned on him and all, but why is that?"

"It hadn't been her choice to come to America to fight under Aion." explained Carmen once more, "she's getting her revenge."

"Face it Zuberi," they heard Isis yell, loud enough for the humans below to hear, "even if you take me down, you have all those on the ground to go up against. You're alone and outnumbered, go back to Egypt and back into that tomb where you belong!"

Dodging the energy ball she had thrown, he charged at her. Isis charged herself, ducking under him and chasing after her energy ball. Catching up to it, she caught it easily and lobbed it at Zuberi once more.

"Stupid woman, what makes you think you can defy me?" He shot forward, baring his fangs.

A dark look crossed the females face, she stood her ground. "You think just because I'm a woman, because I was your lover, that gives you rein over my decisions?" He continued forward, his fangs closing in on her neck, but before they could penetrate her skin, she grabbed his neck with one hand, her other snapping off his fangs.

Escaping her grip, he reeled backwards, screaming in pain, "you bitch! I could have forgiven your attacks against me, but now I will show you no mercy."

Isis made no attempt to move, only stayed where she was, grinning, making no comment.

Zuberi's eyes widened as Isis descended toward the ground, revealing Carmen with Rosette in her arms, her gun poised at the base of his horns. "Bring peace to the lost lambs, give rest to the fangs of the wolf, and call the hammer of death unto the devil. Gospel!" The silver gospel hit Zuberi point blank at the base of one of his horns.

Screaming out in pain and rage, he grabbed his head, thrashing, but before Rosette could reload her gun, he recovered. "I'll be back, Isis, and when next you see me, I will be the last you ever see." With that he vanished, leaving Isis and the dust of his subordinates behind.

"Well that was eventful," Carmen mused, gliding back down to the ground.

"Out of all the things you could say, and it had to be that?" Questioned Rosette, wondering about Carmen's sanity.

Shrugging, she allowed Rosette to slip from her arms to the ground, "what, it seems to be a reasonable statement to me. For God's sake, our former enemy just kicked the snot out of our still-enemy."

"Still-enemy?" Chrno questioned.

"Carmen-talk," Vincent said, and when everyone just stared at him, he sighed, "yeah, I don't understand it either." Which awarded him with hit upside the head, "abusive woman!"

Anna had a serious expression about her face, "ok, even if he had done something awful to you, why turn on him so suddenly and help his enemies? Not only that, but what's with the hair and eye color change?" she questioned, suspicious.

"That's why I turned so suddenly." Seeing the still suspicious look, she turned her neck and pointed to the discolored marking on her neck. "When he intoxicates others, their hair and eye color change so that they match his own, kind of a way to show they belong to him. The last time I began to recover from that intoxication, I locked away one thought in my mind before he re-intoxicated me, that I was being manipulated and that I needed help.

"Over the last month I've been pondering why that thought had been running through my mind, and then Carmen said something that put it together for me. Zuberi had been careful with how he acted towards me, making sure when I awoke I was always the first to label what we were to each other. I've seen it happen many times before, the devils or humans he controlled, when they were intoxicated, their memories would change. Zuberi is not my brother, he had been my lover when we ruled over Egypt, up until we had been released from our tomb."

"So why did you come to while you fought? Wouldn't you have done so before coming here?" Mary asked innocently.

"They say knowledge is power for a reason. The more I know, the faster I revert to myself, to my own person, the one who can make decisions for herself." She laughed once, shaking her head, "my fight with Carmen was a diversion. I was allowing myself to take in everything. All the information. Zuberi's betrayal, exactly what was happening, and where my loyalties, for the time being, should lie."

"What do you mean?" James questioned, becoming defensive.

"Worry not, I'm not going to turn against any of you, in a way, you saved me from slavery, so I owe you. I only mean whether I should just return now to my home, or whether I should stay and help, then go home." Returning home was more likely, to Isis, figuring that the head of the Order would not want to put a former enemy up in the convent.

"Any help is welcomed," Kate said, bowing her head and smiling, "against Aion, we're going to need every bit we can get."

"Yeah!" Rosette laughed, jumping into the conversation, "and if you end up liking it here, you could stay to help kick more devil butt!"

Chrno smiled at Rosette, shaking his head. Everyone else rolled their eyes, but Isis smiled, "it sounds lovely to have a place where I'm welcome and needed, but I have no business here except to defeat Zuberi. I do not believe in your God and I have no attachments here, I will return home once Zuberi's existence is erased."

Tapping her cheek with her index finger, Rosette grinned, "ok then, you say that now, but you can't help but get attached to this place." Falling over, no one could believe that Rosette was being persistent about this.

"You seem so sure, but I must ask, why would you want a devil to live here?" questioned the ruby haired devil.

"Three are already living here, why not one more?" Kate's mouth hung open, and as she was about to say something, her mouth closed and she shrugged.

"That's actually true." She stated aloud.

"That may be true, but I'm sure even the devils here believe in your God."

"Not really, we only really began studying up on their religion here after we were told we were needed. It's interesting, to say the least. If you look into it, you might end up liking it." Carmen giggled, returning to her child like form.

Kate shook her head, "right now this is not a question of whether you will stay in the future and take up the religion we teach here. For now, we shall accommodate you within the order, as we deal with our enemies, if you wish to stay, I will allow it. If after you complete your endeavors, you choose to leave, we shall wish you well."

Isis bowed to Kate, "I thank you for your kindness."

"One problem, Sister Kate, where will she sleep? I don't think Elder's hut would be the best place." Rosette stated.

"It seems we will have to rearrange our guests' sleeping arrangements." Laughed Ewan, "Rosette, would you mind if... Azmaria bunked with you?"

Rosette grinned, "that's fine with me!" At this, Azmaria ran to Rosette and hugged the older sister tightly, squealing in delight.

"Vincent and Carmen, you two can occupy her room, Mary, do you mind bunking with Claire?" Both Claire and Mary smiled and said that it was fine. "Then you shall use Mary's room, Isis."

"Thank you," Isis said, bowing her head.

"So, since three devils are staying within the convent walls, and none of them have been here longer than Chrno has, does that mean he can stay in the rooms as well?" Rosette questioned, seeing that it was only fair.

Kate looked at Chrno, who raised his hands, "No, no, no, that's fine, I'm good with staying in the Elder's hut."

Said old man crept up behind Chrno out of nowhere, appearing just above his left shoulder, "what if I need the extra room for my experiments, lad? Would you put an old man through that kind of trouble?"

"Uhhhh..." Chrno laughed nervously.

"If you wish Chrno, you may stay where you feel comfortable." Chrno's eyes bulged at Kate's words, and Rosette celebrated.

"Alright, tonight we are staying up and telling scary stories! Ready the flashlight Chrno!" Rosette cheered, grabbing Azmaria and Chrno by the wrists and running into the order.

"Does she not care that I'm standing right here?" questioned Kate, sighing and shaking her head.

"Both of them have had a rough day, I think we can allow her to stay up past curfew. Knowing her, she'll pass out before it anyways." Laughed Ewan.

Carmen frowned, "how come we get our own rooms? I want to room with Sister Rosette! She's a lot more fun to hang out with than Vincent, and she doesn't smell!"

"Are you saying I stink?" growled Vincent.

"Yes."

"Why you..." Vincent began chasing after Carmen, who cried dramatically.

"Waaaaaah, Vincent's being mean!"

By this time, James and the other order members had been weirded out to the point where they exited silently. Ewan, Kate and Isis were left standing.

"In any case, welcome to the Order, Isis was it?" said devil nodded, "I shall show you to your room." Ewan followed the two inside, leaving Carmen and Vincent behind.

"Hey! Wait for us, we don't know where Mary's room is!" Having yelled that, they ran to catch up, making sure the gate to the order was shut.

-----The Next Morning-----

Rosette awoke early, stretching her arms high above her head, she yawned. She was about to move to get out of bed when something hit her hip. Looking down, she saw Azmaria sleeping deeply beside her. Smiling warmly at the small girl, she threw the covers off of herself, tucked them under the still sleeping girl, and stood up. Trying her best not to jostle the bed, she walked to the foot of the bed and jumped off.

She remembered now, Chrno and Azmaria had been assigned to sleep in her room while the three devils were here. Her smile wavered, Chrno had been in the room when she fell asleep, so where was he now? Curious, she went into her bathroom, no sign of the violet haired devil. Frowning, she gathered her clothes and quickly changed in the bathroom, then quietly exited the room.

"Chrno! Chrno, where are you?" Her eyes roamed the court yard, looking for her devil companion. She stopped when she saw a glint up in a tree. "Chrno, is that you?" Running over to the tree, she looked up only to see Chrno rubbing at his eyes.

"Good morning," he said, sleep still lacing his voice, he rolled over on his branch and fell to the ground, landing easily on his feet.

"Why were you sleeping out here, Chrno? It would have been much warmer if you had stayed in the room." She frowned, had he not wanted to sleep in the same room with her? Had the days events made it too awkward for him? Rosette immediately felt horrible, of course he was feeling awkward, they had just heard that they were fated to have a child together, and from his actions, it didn't seem like he was too happy about it.

"I wanted to gaze at the stars," he replied, smiling a sleepy smile.

Rosette plastered a fake smile on her face, "I bet they were beautiful last night," of course it was awkward, he didn't love her, they were just friends.

"Hmm, they had been better the night before," he said as he rung out his hair, the nuns' eyes bulged, "it was a bit too rainy last night."

"Chrno! This is how you're going to get yourself sick again! You should have just stayed in my room, come on, you need to go take a shower and warm yourself up." Grabbing his wrist, she made her way back into the convent, dragging a protesting devil behind her.

"Rosette, I'm jake, seriously! Rosette!" Powerless against the nun, he ended up following her orders, albeit, for him it was extremely awkward.

Having the woman you loved sitting outside the shower curtain to make sure said devil actually took the shower she demanded would make it so. Once he was done, she left the room to give him privacy. By this time, Azmaria had awakened, and was sitting up in Rosette's bed.

"Uhh, Rosette, who's in the shower?" she asked innocently.

"Chrno." she answered simply, and when her face reddened Rosette explained, "he slept outside and it rained, so I made him take a shower to warm himself up."

"Rosette, where did you put my clothes." Came Chrno's voice from the bathroom.

"That's what I forgot to do!" Rosette exclaimed, hitting her palm with the side of her fist, "I remember now, that's why I grabbed your clothes, I'm going to wash them."

"So what am I supposed to do? Sit in here until they are clean and dried?" Chrno's voice was laced with dread.

Rosette cackled, "give me two minutes." Both Azmaria and Chrno knew something was up, and when she returned in two minutes with a small brown package, Azmaria had to wonder what it was.

Slightly opening the door, Rosette stuck her hand with the brown package into the room. When she felt it's weight leave her hand, she closed the door and covered her mouth as she cackled.

"Rosette, what was in that package?" Azmaria asked, worried for her friends' safety.

Grinning from ear to ear, Rosette backed away from the door, covering her mouth as she waited for Chrno to open the door. A few minutes passed, there was no noise on either side of the door. When the door finally cracked open, both woman trained their eyes on the opening.

"What is this Rosette? I look so... so weird!" As Chrno came into full view, Rosette fell over laughing. Azmaria giggled.

"You look so handsome in blue," she told him.

"No, it looks weird and it's about three sizes too big. Not to mention, I'm wearing the female order uniform! Rosette, why?!" Cried the poor devil, his face alight with color.

"Pay back for being so ridiculous," cackled the nun, "in any case, all that was left were sizes for someone about the age of fifteen." Grinning knowingly, tears streamed down Chrno's face.

"Quit making fun of the fact that I look like I'm twelve!" Rosette grinned at this.

"Sorry Chrno, but you'll have to wear that until your clothes are dried."

"Then I'm not leaving this room until my clothes are dried."

Another grin, "perfect. See you in a while then, come on, Azmaria, we have some chores to get done and some clothes to wash." Both women left the room, leaving a disbelieving devil behind.

"You can't be serious, Rosette." No answer came from the other side of the door, "Rosette?" still no answer, "Rosette!"

-----Rosette and Azmaria-----

"Was it really ok to just leave Chrno like that? He sounds upset." Rosette sighed once again.

"Az, did you get a good look at his eyes? He didn't sleep very well last night. He's not going to leave my room in that uniform, which, by the way, was not the only uniform I could have brought him, but that being besides the point, if he refuses to leave the room, he'll get bored, and when that happens, he'll get some rest."

The two women walked through the court yard, readying themselves to wash Chrno's clothes, when Azmaria stopped at the tree Chrno had been in that morning.

"Rosette, look at the ground!" Azmaria pointed to a faint imprint of a fist.

Kneeling down next to the print, Rosette ran her hand over it. She frowned deeply, "it's Chrno's," she stated, "what inner turmoil are you hiding?"

Looking up at the lavender haired apostle, Rosette shook her head, and both continued on towards the laundry. Both were silent as they washed the clothes, and never said a word as they hung everything up to dry. Once they were done, Anna ran over to them and asked them to help with a few chores. Knowing that it would be a while before anything was dried, they agreed, knowing Chrno needed to sleep anyways.

Hours passed while Rosette and Azmaria cleaned and swept, tended the gardens and washed dishes. By the time they were done, it was at least four in the afternoon. Azmaria went off to the church for her choir practice, leaving Rosette to check on Chrno's clothes. To her delight, they were dry. Taking them off the line, she made her way back to her room.

As she made her way back to her room, Rosette began to feel increasingly nervous. What if he was mad at her, or what if he was sleeping? Gulping, she pushed the thoughts away, she'd knock lightly, and if he was mad, so what? He'd get over it. Stopping outside of her door, she did as she had decided and knocked lightly, and when no answer came, she quietly opened the door.

To her annoyance, Chrno was sleeping in the corner of the room.

"Geeze, you could have slept on my bed, I wouldn't have been mad." She grumbled to herself.

Sighing, she placed his clothes on her bed and went to sit near him. She had to smile, he looked so cute and peaceful while he was sleeping, especially with the whole 'purring' thing going on. She began to wonder when he had fallen asleep. Had it been recently? Or had he fallen asleep soon after she had left the room with Azmaria?

She sighed and stood up, "well, at least you're getting some sleep now."

Tip toeing her way to the door, she stopped when she heard him stir, "Rosette... don't go..." she quickly turned, thinking he had woken up.

His eyes were still closed, and he hadn't moved an inch. He was still asleep.

His expression became angered, "get away from her... she's mine..." he mumbled.

A blush crept across the young nun's face. Had he just called her, his? Irritation welled up within her, and she wasn't sure whether or not she should hit him for that. Sighing, her irritation left her when she heard him call out her name with a pained cry. Smiling softly, she walked over and knelt next to him.

She reached her hand out and moved his bangs from his face, "whatever you're dreaming Chrno, I'm here, and I'm jake. Forget whatever it is your dreaming now and think of happy times." Standing up, she walked back to the door, not expecting her words to actually have any effect.

"Thank you... Rosette..." Turning once more, she witnessed a peaceful smile once again on his face.

"You're welcome, Chrno. Sleep well." The strange encounter having ended, Rosette slid down the face of the door. Now she knew how Chrno was feeling, but it was awkward not knowing exactly what the devil felt for her. Were his dreams a sign that he loved her as well, or merely possessive of her?

-----Three Hours Later-----

Chrno awoke, feeling happy and refreshed. He had dreamed of the times he had shared with Rosette and Joshua when they had been younger. Smiling, he looked about the room, and spotted his clothes on Rosette's bed. The devil began wondering how long he had been asleep, the last he remembered, the sun was still in the sky.

Stretching, he stood up, the sky was dark, so he must have been out for a while, he concluded in his mind. Walking over to Rosette's bed, he grabbed his clothes and went into the bathroom to change. Once done, he folded the uniform he had temporarily used and placed it on Rosette's bed where his had been.

It was dark out, but not too dark, Chrno figured it was probably around the time Rosette usually ate her dinner. Stretching his arms above his head, he exited the room and made his way to the dining hall.

His assumption in time was spot on, as was usual, Rosette had a tray filled to the bursting point with food. His usual bowl of soup was also on it. Smiling warmly, Chrno walked silently towards his contractor, sitting down next to her without a word. As he did so, Rosette turned her head to smile at him, handed him his bowl of soup, and proceeded to thank God silently for her meal and then dug in.

Once they were both done, they sat, silently thanking God once again for the meal. Rosette was the first to break their silence.

"Did you sleep well, Chrno?" she questioned, smiling down at him.

A slight blush crossed his face, how could he not have expected her to catch him sleeping? "Yeah, I slept well," after a moment he added, "I dreamt of the times we spent together with Joshua." A smile crossed his face as he closed his eyes and raised his head towards the heavens, "everything was so simple back than, wasn't it?"

Rosette leaned back and looked upwards as well, gazing at the paintings on the ceiling, "yeah, they had been. I don't mind that things have changed though, sure, I wish that Aion had never come into the picture, but if not for Remington, we'd never have ended up here, and I wouldn't have been able to help out so many people." She shook her head, "we wouldn't be here if not for everything that happened."

"Would you give it all up, if it meant you could save Joshua from ever being touched by Aion's influence?" In his heart, Chrno knew the answer.

Smiling ruefully, Rosette hugged her knees to her chest, "would it be horrible of me to say no? Even though it's been hard, and even though we've been searching for him for four years, I can't regret having come here, with or without my brother. All the people, all the experiences, everything, I cherish it all, and no matter how much I wish there was something I could trade to make Aion's existence not matter in anyone's life, I wouldn't give up what I have now."

"I wish I could say the same, I regret the day I took Aion's hand and followed him." Crossing his arms on the table top, he laid his chin on his arms, "it's been the same since that day, I've been the cause of so many deaths." His fists tightening, Chrno clamped his eyes shut, trying to keep the tears from his eyes.

Her hand on the back of his head, Rosette pushed him into the table, her whole being pissed, "so what was that yesterday? Huh?"

"R-Rosette!"

"Tell me, if you're the cause of 'so many deaths' then how come you were able to keep everyone alive and pretty much unscathed yesterday?" growled out the sister.

"I... I didn't want anyone to get hurt." Rosette let up on her grip, and allowed Chrno to sit up, "I didn't want to be useless anymore.

"Che, that's stupid, for someone so smart you can be extremely dumb, Chrno." Crimson eyes gave ocean blue a questioning look, "you do more good than I do here, sometimes. As Elder said, you cook, you clean, and you keep my butt out of trouble. If there was ever a person to call a saint, it's you."

Shaking his head, Chrno laughed, "saint, no, I don't think I could ever merit a title that high. Besides, keeping you out of danger isn't that hard, you can take care of yourself."

"Yet I get myself into trouble all the time, and when I lose my head, you reattach it."

"Ok, that just sounds weird and wrong." Chrno stated, glancing at his contractor.

"It doesn't matter, you're a saint because I said so, you do more good than most of the members here." With that, she took the empty bowl of soup and the tray, and returned it to the kitchen. When she came back, she continued, "in any case, Sister Kate said to be ready for tomorrow."

"Ready for what?"

"Tomorrow Carmen and Vincent are going to enter the watch." Standing up from his spot, Chrno looked on towards Rosette, his expression serious.

"Are you sure about this, Rosette? Once the changes start happening, if they happen, there's no going back."

Grinning, said nun gave him the thumbs up, "I'm sure Chrno, this won't just help me, but it'll help you too. You'll get your horns back, right?" Looking down, Chrno's expression darkened. "Chrno?"

"I'm not sure what getting them back will mean for me." He said, glaring at the table top, "with that power returning to me, will I change?"

"Oi, what's with the dark thoughts? Get a grip, Chrno, you aren't going to change just because you can survive on your own again. I won't let you." Chrno's eyes shot immediately to Rosette's, his gaze questioning, "besides," she said, a sheepish grin lighting her face, "I'll always need you, Chrno."

At a loss for words, Chrno's mouth opened and shut with no purpose. In context to what she said, what exactly did that mean? She would always need him as a friend? Or something... more? Looking down for a moment, the small devil decided, whatever she really meant, he could at least say the same.

When he looked back up at his contractor, a true smile lit his face, "I'll always be there for you, Rosette."

Grinning back at her partner, Rosette nodded, acknowledging the same.

That night, Azmaria, Rosette and Chrno all had a pillow fight in Rosette's room, kind of as a way to relieve tension and to be a little carefree, if only for a while. Not only that, but since Chrno had been asleep for most of the day, he was wide awake. Not wanting him to be exhausted when Carmen and Vincent entered the watch, Rosette took it upon herself to tire him out.

Their activities also served as a way to keep conversation away from the questions everyone was dying to ask. What about the prophecy, what did it really mean for them? Was it really referring to the sister and the young violet haired devil, were they really 'prophesized' to have a child, because it was predicted, or is it prophesized because it's inevitable for them to come together?

Whatever the reason might have been for it, Chrno was relieved that his companions didn't bring it up. As much as he loved Rosette, he didn't need to be reminded that the future child that prophecy predicted would never become reality. He needn't be reminded that Rosette only felt friendship toward him, and that Joshua would always been number one in her heart.

-----The next morning-----

The essential people (and devils) gathered in Sister Kate's office. Kate sat behind her desk, her hands neatly folded on the top, while Ewan stood perfectly still beside her. In front of the desk, Rosette leaned on her right leg, her arms crossed, a grin on her face. Chrno stood next to her, a worried look on his face. Opposite of them, Carmen and Vincent stood relaxed, smiling kindly at the nun and her partner. Standing in front of the desk opposite of Kate's position was Elder, who was in the room to supervise in case something were to go wrong. Azmaria stood quietly by the door, having been told to be ready to throw open the door in case of an emergency.

"Today's the day," Commented Vincent, his smile easy and kind.

Chrno averted his gaze, rubbing his arm, "I'd rather not think about it."

Understanding how he felt, Carmen smiled warmly, "then I suppose it's best we get this over with as soon as possible, eh?"

Rosette placed her hand on Chrno's head, and when the small devil looked up, she pushed him over, "you worry too much Chrno, lighten up." she told him, "everything will be jake!"

Sitting up, Chrno rubbed his head which had hit the floor, looked at Rosette and gave her a half smile, "I hope so." When the nun gave him a death glare, he backed up, his hands up to defend himself, "alright, alright, everything will be jake!"

The Elder cleared his throat, "ok, I'll explain this once before anyone does anything. Before Sister Rosette opens the watch, Carmen and Vincent will both place their hands on it. The reason for this is when another source of astral comes in contact with the surface, the draining will come from that source. However, since there will be two sources, the flow will stop in the middle and won't be taken from either Sister Rosette of Carmen and Vincent."

Everyone in the room nodded, Elder continued, "I've looked at the mechanics of the watch, Carmen, Vincent, just under the clock face there is what looks to be a button. Having tested it by pressing a piece of a devils horn against it, I witnessed that it was taken into the watch. However, I had a trace on the piece of horn and from what I can tell, it's as if it was taken into an alternate dimension, it was very curious." after speculating for a moment, he continued, "within this dimension there is another button that's identical to the one under the clock face. If you are to press that, the watch will expel your souls."

Rosette blinked, "whoa, whoa, whoa Elder, did you just say their 'souls?' I thought the watch would take in their bodies!"

"The watch cannot support a solid form, it can only hold spirits, or as we call them, souls. While in the watch, both Carmen and Vincent's bodies will be kept safe while their souls feed you their astral. When times comes for them to leave, you will return to where their bodies lay in a dormant state. You'll have to place their hands on the surface of the watch, on the same side, so if Carmen touches the right side, her hand must again touch the right side, for example. Other than that, once their hands are on the watch, their souls can push the button in the watches dimension and, 'bam!' They are back in their bodies, ready to absorb more astral."

The whole process seemed simple enough, but it still made the violet haired devil nervous. Rosette was not of the same mind frame, "alright, I'm ready when you two are!"

"Ready!" The two devils chimed.

"You going to be ok, Chrno?" Sister Kate asked, seeing as how said devil looked like he was going to be sick.

"I'll be jake…" he managed as he stood next to Rosette.

"Ok then, please proceed, Carmen, Vincent." Nodding, both stepped forward.

Both devils were in their adult forms in order to release their energy as smoothly as possible. With a smile, both placed a hand on the watches surface, Carmen on the left, Vincent on the right. Grinning, Rosette opened the watch. For a moment, there was a wind coming from that watch that seemed to be trying to pull everything toward it. Rosette watched in amazement as her hair danced about her face. Chrno blinked a few times, watching in curiosity as the wind died down.

Stepping out from behind the desk, Ewan went to stand behind the devils.

Carmen and Vincent smiled at one another then at Chrno and Rosette. "Well, this is farewell to our physical bodies," Carmen laughed, "until we're settled, Rosette, Chrno." she said with a smile.

Rosette nodded, and while keeping her fingers on the watches surface, Carmen reached out with her index finger and pressed the small silver button within the watch. The wind that had died picked up ten-fold, so strong that the group was forced to close their eyes and look away. When it had stopped again and they were able to look, they witnessed as Carmen's body collapsed into Ewan's arms.

Dragging her over to the chair in the corner of the room, specifically placed there for the days event, Ewan placed her there and then went to stand behind Vincent. The blue haired devil glanced in the direction of Carmen's body, a frown tugging at the corners of his mouth.

It was as if he were deciding something when he looked back at the two before him and smiled. "Looks like it's my turn," he said with a laugh, "be sure to close the watch as soon as my body begins to fall, ok, Sister?" Nodding in understand, Vincent followed Carmen's example.

The effect was immediate. The wind came quickly, but instead of looking away, Chrno squinted, keeping watch to see exactly when Vincent's body started to fall. As the wind grew weaker, Chrno noted that Vincent was swaying, "shut it now, Rosette!" cried the small devil.

Quickly shutting the device, the wind stopped completely and Vincent's body collapsed into Ewan's arms, sleeping without its soul.

'_**That was an interesting experience,'**_ Rosette could hear in her mind, _**'it wasn't as shocking as I thought it was going to be.'**_

Rosette would have said something out loud about it being weird having Carmen's voice in her head, but she remembered that the she-devil had talked to her about it when it had just been her. Deciding that it probably meant she should keep it a secret for now, she said nothing.

"Rosette?" Chrno's voice shook her from her thoughts, "how are you feeling, Rosette?"

"Jake, how about you, Chrno?" she asked him back.

"I feel…" he began to answer too quickly, but then he stopped, blinking rapidly, "I actually feel… a little sick." covering his mouth, Chrno blanked out and fell backwards, hitting his head on his way down to the floor.

"Chrno!" Rosette kneeled beside him.

'_**Don't worry about him,' **_came Vincent's voice, _**'he just got overwhelmed by the rush of energy.'**_

_Wouldn't a rush of energy, you know, energize him? _Rosette asked out with her thoughts.

'_**You'd think,'**_ Carmen's voice began, _**'but it's like when you have too much sugar, you feel really good and hyped up, and then you crash. He'll be fine after he rests a little. You should probably take it easy as well.'**_

"Sister Rosette?" Kate question, wondering why the girl froze in her spot.

Rosette shook her head, "it's nothing, I'm jake." She shifted her eyes from side to side for a moment, "I think he's just tired, may I be excused to take him back to my room, Sister Kate?" questioned the nun timidly.

Blinking, the abbess nodded and excused Azmaria as well. Both young women helped picked up the small devil and carried him to the older nuns room.

Ewan and Kate looked on as they left the room, Elder was grinning, happy with his research and the result of the transfer.

"Do you suppose things will become a little easier for them, Ewan?" Kate questioned, hopeful of the answer.

Ewan did not have a promising expression, "maybe when it comes to energy," he began, frowning, "but when it comes to the tasks and trials they must overcome, I'm afraid that it will become much, much more difficult."

It was the answer that Kate had been afraid of, but knew very well would be likely. Sitting back in her chair, she raised her face to the ceiling.

"Lord, bless those two with your love and protection." With that said, Ewan and Elder picked up the bodies of Carmen and Vincent and strode slowly out of the abbess' office, heading to a place in the Elder's laboratory that would keep their bodies safe and healthy.

_DK: Ah, finally, another chapter completed!_

_V: Certainly took you long enough!_

_DK: Hey, hey, hey, you can bite me! I have college classes to deal with, I don't have time to just sit on my butt for ten thousand hours and type._

_R: … yet you sit on your butt for ten thousand hours and do nothing._

_DK: ~covers Rosette's mouth~ Shhh, they don't know I do nothing when I'm relaxing in my dorm!_

_C: Seeing as how no one else is going to move forward, I will give the overview of the next chapter._

_~clears his throat~_

_A month passes after Carmen and Vincent enter the watch, and the first signs of change are occurring for Rosette and myself. When a few higher ranked devils decide that they want to attack the order, and Rosette attacks in an unusual way, it's up to me to guide her through it._

_R: Of course with the help of Carmen and Vincent as well, since you don't know I can hear them._

_C: Yes, there's that too._

_DK: Ok guys, I'll talk to you later. For now, I don't know when I will be able to continue, so in the meantime, leave some feedback! Bye, bye!_


	6. Crack Chapter One

_**D.K: Ok people, I feel bad for hardly updating, so here's a "crack chapter." Everything here will be mistake and error ridden and probably won't make sense. Enjoy.**_

**Azmaria sighed, they were at it again.**

"…**you know it's not fair, Rosette! You're always dumping the laundry duty on me!" The little devil had had it with the young sisters' lazy ways, "you need to start doing your own chores!"**

"**Don't yell at me like I'm the only one at fault!" shouted the sister, her hands on her hips as she leaned forward, bent at the hips, "you bring upon yourself by doing it with no one asking you to."**

"**That's not true at all! You always throw your clothes at me and walk away!"**

"**Do not!"**

"**Do too!"**

**Nervously, Azmaria stepped between then and cleared her throat, "choir practice is done for the day, I could wash the clothes."**

**Chrno's eyes softened at the sight of the little lavender haired apostle, "thank you Az, but Rosette needs to take care of her own responsibilities."**

**With a slight twitch in her right eye, the aforementioned blond nun grabbed hold of the fore mentioned devils' ear, "what did you say about me having to take care of my own responsibilities?" There was an audible gulp, "far as I'm concerned, I **_**do**_** my share of the chores around here, more so even!"**

"**You wouldn't have to if you'd stop destroying the Order's car and every building you go into!"**

"**That's it! You're going down Chrno!" An angry blush colored the nuns cheeks as her right hook plowed into the little devils cheek. **

**Flying backwards, Chrno performed a perfect back flip, landing on his feet, "what was that for?" he cried, sounding incredulous. **

"**That was for using my mistakes against me!" She growled, charging at him.**

**Sweat drop forming on the back of his head, the violet haired devil ran, "it's not like I'm trying to be mean!" cried the poor devil, "you just need to be a little more mature on missions!"**

"**I'll show you matu--" so blinded by her anger, the young nun never knew what hit her, didn't even see the Elder walk somewhere in the distance between her and Chrno, only to stick out his foot to trip her.**

**Said nun unfortunately bit her tongue as she skidded across the grass, her skirt flying over her head.**

"**Ah, such a wonderful view." cooed the Elder, whistling a light tune.**

**Chrno's face turned crimson as he ran back to his contractor and pulled her skirt back over her bottom, "E-Elder! How could you do that to her?! Why are you even out here, don't you have some experiment to work on?"**

**The crazy old man blinked, "wasn't it you who requested my assistance anyways?" Elder looked from the crimson devil to little Azmaria, who stood on the sidelines, her hands folded innocently in front of her, a mischievous smile on her face. "Ah, I see."**

**Finally sitting up, Rosette looked over her shoulder and glared, "what the hell was that for?!"**

**Elder merely laughed, "well, I thought when Az came to get me I would be helping him," he began, motion to Chrno, "but apparently I was helping Az and myself." An angry growl filled the air as Rosette jumped to her feet, zooming towards a laughing Elder.**

"**You stupid lech! I'm going to kill you!" With tears running down his cheeks, the Elder ran for his life, lest the powerful fists of the young nun were to connect with his delicate and old face.**

**Behind them, Chrno was motionless, still kneeling on the ground, his eyes wide and blinking at the same time, "what just happened?" he questioned out loud.**

**There was a small giggle at his side, "Elder just saved you from getting pummeled." **

**Glancing over at Azmaria, the small devil gave her a worried gaze, "I don't know who's had more influence over you, Rosette or the Elder."**

**The young apostle merely giggled into her hands, "how can I live here and not be affected by Rosette?" Her expression was fond, "I want to be just like her when I'm older."**

"**You do know you are trying to emulate the master of destruction, right?" There was a blank look on Chrno's face, he didn't understand it, why would she want to destroy everything around her? "Then again," Chrno thought aloud to himself, "why is it that quality about her that attracts me so damn much?"**

**Az bit her lip, trying to hold in her laughter. The confusion and horror crossing the small devils face was just priceless. Plus, when do you ever hear one of the most feared devils talking to himself?**

"**That's it, I must be crazy! Ugh, I should have known this would happen."**

**Seemingly from nowhere, Carmen tackle Chrno to the ground, "wha-cha yellin' at yourself for Chrnnnnoooo?" She asked in a sing song voice.**

**Losing his balance, Chrno fell to the ground, "Carmen, try not to kill the poor guy."**

"**Wait, how is it that you two are here? Aren't you supposed to be in the watch?" Chrno nodded at Azmaria's logic.**

"**Well, this is one of those times where the author just wants to screw around a bit, so instead of being where we're supposed to be, we're here, making your life all that much harder!" Vincent said with a laugh, slapping Chrno on the back.**

"**Wait… what? Author? What are you talking about!?" Cried the poor devil, confused beyond belief.**

"**Oh come on, you know! The crazy chick we always talk to before chapters, except in this one, we're allowed to openly talk to her and well, we 'realize' that we are just anime characters and our lives really don't matter." Input Carmen, smiling like what she said was the most puke worthy gush of optimistic speech.**

**Azmaria crouched in the corner, "that is such a depressing thought… my life doesn't even matter…" despair lines overtook the area of the young girl.**

"**What the hell are despair lines?" Carmen yells, shaking her fist at the crazy author.**

**You know, those blue line things that appear whenever an anime character sulks in a corner.**** Booms the author's voice from the sky.**

**Chrno shook his head, getting himself up from the floor, "ok, I don't get it, how did this go from 'normal' fanfic mode to completely and absolutely making no sense?"**

**Simple, I am your master, you obey me… at least in this world, otherwise, I don't own you.**

"**So you can't tell us what to do?" asked the devil hopefully.**

**You're in my world, so yes, yes I can.**

**At this time Rosette decides to make her entrance, "stupid lech, needs to be taught more than one lesson…"**

**Ah, finally! My favorite person is here!**

"**Who the hell just spoke?" questioned the nun, looking around suspiciously, "and who keeps describing everything!?"**

**Well don't I feel loved, how can you forget the author who is making you do all this crap? I mean, I could have made you and Chrno make out.**

**Rosette's blue orbs shifted from left to right, "w-why would you want to do that?"**

**Well, I love the Chrno Rosette pairing, and I am a hopeless romantic… so, why not?**

"**So what, we're just going to drop to the ground and start making out?" Chrno asked, his heart beating wildly at the thought.**

"**God Chrno, keep it in your pants!" Cried a blushing Rosette.**

**Chrno's face lit at her words, "ahaha, Chrno got told!" Carmen laughed loudly.**

"**Carmen, we don't need your input." Vincent said, dragging her away by her hair.**

"**Nooooo!!! The world needs my inpuuuuuuuut!" With that, Carmen and Vincent left the area.**

"**Ok, this is becoming too weird, even for a crack fic, can we just get this over with?" Rosette questioned, irritated, "stop describing how I'm feeling! It's getting on my nerves!"**

**Walking forward looking childish and innocent, Azmaria looks to the sky, "please, Ms. D., can we finish this chapter so you can get some sleep?"**

**Ugh, fine… stupid character ruining my sleep deprived fun… I have to stop annoying my room mate, ShadowTrunks1128 anyways… yes, another author on here is my room mate, fun, huh?**

**The author finally gets back in to fanfic mode… somewhat.**

**Sighing, Chrno gazed up at Rosette from his sitting position on the ground. Azmaria had walked back into the order, giving the excuse that she had a few chores to get done, while Rosette stood in front of the devil. **

_**Hey, you're making it sound like I'm a bad room mate! **_

**Oh you know I don't mean it that way.**

"**D.!" Chrno yelled, "we're trying to have a moment here!"**

**Oh, sorry.**

**Rosette sighed and plopped down on the ground, a brow raising in suspicion towards the sky before she sighs, "look, I'm sorry Chrno, I know most of what you said is pretty much true."**

**A small smile of gratitude lit Chrno's features, "no, it was wrong of me to use that against you, I mean, even if you do destroy stuff, you don't do it intentionally, and it's always to try and help someone."**

**The author is behind the keyboard, squeeing at the cute moment while her room mate goes 'awww,' then states, 'you're annoying the hell outta me… good night.'**

**While the author and her room mate are arguing about using what the other says against them in the crack chapters, Rosette and Chrno scoot closer to one another.**

**Leaning against her arm, Chrno lays his head on Rosette's shoulder while she lays her head on his, both gazing at the stars. **

"**Some things in life just don't make sense, do they Chrno." She stated.**

"**Yeah, I'm beginning to think I really don't know anything."**

"**I have the same feeling," she paused and shivered, "I also have the feeling I'm being watched."**

**You are.**

**A low growl shuts the author right up.**

"**So what's going to happen next?" Rosette questions, worry lacing her voice.**

"**I believe that there will be changes starting with your body from the astral energy."**

"**Seriously? That's going to be happening within the next month or so? How fair is that? Didn't Carmen and Vincent just go into the watch?"**

"**Technically that was months ago, so if anything, D.K. has given you plenty of time."**

"**I'm just not sure if I'm ready for this."**

"**You don't have to worry Rosette, I'll be here for you every step of the way."**

**With a small yet warm smile on her lips, Rosette slips into a blissful sleep, Chrno dozing off moments later.**


End file.
